EXCHANGE 


A  HISTORY  OF 
THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET 


BY 

MARY  L.  HINSDALE,  PH.D. 


A  THESIS  SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  LITERATURE, 
SCIENCE  AND  THE  ARTS  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN,    1911 


ANN  ARBOR,  MICHIGAN 

GEORGE  WAHR 

1911 


J1  ly\\ 
EXCHANGE 


COPYRIGHT,  1911 
BY  MARY  L.  HINSDALE 


COMPOSED  AND  PRINTED  BY 
THE  LORD  BALTIMORE  PRESS 
BALTIMORE  :  MD.  :  U.S.A. 


To  My  Mother. 


225995 


PREFACE. 

It  was  upon  advice  with  the  late  Professor  B.  A.  Hinsdale  that 
the  author  selected  The  American  Cabinet  for  the  subject  of  an 
academic  investigation.  But  the  assistance  that  was  to  come  from 
one  who  was  both  historical  scholar  and  father  was  soon  taken  away. 
The  prosecution  of  the  work  has  been  several  times  postponed.  But 
the  period  of  delay  has  been  one  of  phenomenal  activity  among 
librarians  and  editors  in  the  field  of  Americana.  And  the  slow  com- 
pletion has  perhaps  been  justified  by  the  use  of  larger  stores  of 
critical  biographies  and  private  papers.  The  latter  kind  of  material 
is  specially  important  to  the  subject;  and  it  is  one  that,  at  the  best, 
lags  a  generation  behind  current  events. 

The  investigation  has  been  carried  on  partly  as  a  seminary  study  at 
Radcliffe  College,  and  partly  by  independent  research  at  various 
libraries.  Acknowledgments  for  many  privileges  and  personal  cour- 
tesies are  due  to  the  gentlemen  in  authority  at  the  Library  of  the 
New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Society,  the  Library  of  the  His- 
torical Society  of  Pennsylvania,  Lenox  Library,  the  Library  of  the 
University  of  Michigan,  the  Library  of  Harvard  University,  and  the 
Division  of  Manuscripts  of  the  Library  of  Congress.  For  informa- 
tion about  the  inside  operations  of  the  Executive,  cordial  thanks  are 
paid  to  Mr.  Gaillard  Hunt,  formerly  of  the  Bureau  of  Citizenship  in 
the  Department  of  State,  and  to  Hon.  James  Rudolph  Garfield, 
ex-Secretary  of  the  Interior.  Valuable  academic  assistance  was  re- 
ceived from  Professor  Andrew  C.  McLaughlin,  both  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan  and  the  Carnegie  Institution.  The  highest  tribute 
of  gratitude  is  reserved  for  Professor  Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  one  of 
the  most  inspiring  of  instructors.  It  is  through  the  generosity  of  the 
Hon.  Wm.  L.  Clements,  regent  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  that 
the  publication  of  this  work  has  been  made  possible. 

MARY  LOUISE  HINSDALE. 


vn 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

PREFACE  vii 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CABINET i 

WASHINGTON  17 

JOHN  ADAMS 29 

JEFFERSON   39 

MADISON   49 

MONROE   63 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS 71 

JACKSON    79 

VAN  BUREN  97 

WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON 103 

TYLER    109 

POLK 125 

TAYLOR    137 

FlLLMORE 145 

PIERCE    151 

BUCHANAN    159 

LINCOLN    169 

JOHNSON  189 

GRANT    205 

HAYES   219 

GARFIELD 229 

ARTHUR  239 

CLEVELAND 245 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON 251 

CLEVELAND 257 

McKlNLEY     26l 

ROOSEVELT  267 

TAFT    277 

THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING 283 

THE  CABINET  AND  CONGRESS 301 

THE  CABINET  AND  THE  PRESIDENT 313 


IX 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CABINET. 

The  use  of  the  term  Cabinet  to  denote  a  purely  American  institu- 
tion is  one  of  the  misfortunes  of  political  science.  The  Government 
of  the  United  States  drew  upon  the  English  nomenclature  compara- 
tively little.  But  this  conspicuous  instance  has  sufficed  to  make  the 
English  Ministry  an  almost  inevitable  point  of  departure  for  analyz- 
ing the  functions  of  the  President  and  his  advisers.  Writers  have 
a  fashion  of  seeking  for  resemblances  that  do  not  exist.  And  then 
they  resort  to  negative  and  consequently  disparaging  definitions. 
The  present  study  will  try  to  determine  what  the  American  Cabinet 
is  by  bringing  together  the  important  facts  of  its  own  history,  and 
attempting  very  little  reference  to  English  or  Continental  models. 

We  cannot  ignore,  however,  the  general  background  supplied  by 
the  political  heritage  that  a  group  of  English  Colonies  brought  to  the 
Government  into  which  they  entered  as  independent  States.  The 
Colonial  charters  were  wont  to  provide  for  Governors  and  Councils, 
or  Governors  and  Assistants ;  wherein  the  Privy  Council  appears  in 
American  Government  from  its  beginnings.  In  the  mingling  of 
executive  and  legislative  functions,  these  associates  of  the  Governor 
combined,  as  a  rule,  the  two  characters  of  Council  and  Upper  House. 
The  ordinary  Colonial  Executive,  therefore,  was  as  though  the 
President  of  the  United  States  should  sit  in  consultation  with  the 
Senate,  except  for  the  size  of  the  latter  body. 

These  Privy  Councils  of  the  original  Governments  survived  the 
transition  from  Colony  to  State,  though  in  various  forms  and  under 
differing  styles.  The  transitional  Constitutions,  laying  hold  of  a 
different  classification  of  governmental  organs  and  functions,  than 
had  prevailed  before,  introduced  the  separation  of  Executive,  Leg- 
islature and  Judiciary.  But  this  was  not  carried  out  so  consistently 
as  to  break  up  all  personal  connection  between  Senates  and  Councils. 
On  this  point,  a  very  few  Constitutions  retained  the  old  arrangement, 
or  modified  it  by  providing  for  a  smaller  Council  composed  of 
specially  chosen  members  of  the  Legislature ;  others  were  silent  about 


t  THE-  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

the  matter;  while  a  substantial  group  definitely  stipulated  that  a 
member  of  the  Council  should  not  at  the  same  time  be  a  member  of 
the  Legislature.  These  Councils  in  the  early  States  had  no  ex- 
officio  connection  with  the  administrative  offices.  Neither  was  their 
appointment  by  the  Governor  the  vogue. 

The  root  of  the  American  Cabinet  that  is  found  in  the  Executive 
Departments  naturally  put  forth  its  first  substantial  growth  in  Ameri- 
can soil  during  the  Revolutionary  period.1  A  General  Post  Office  had 
been  established  among  the  Colonies ;  but  the  Departments  of  War, 
Finance,  and  Foreign  Affairs  grew  out  of  the  exigencies  of  the  strug- 
gle for  independence.  These  establishments  passed  through  the  three 
forms  of  Committees  of  the  Continental  Congress,  sometimes  draw- 
ing members  from  outside,  Boards,  and  finally,  Departments  with 
single  Heads.  This  was  a  time  when  French  examples  were  engag- 
ing the  attention  of  some  American  publicists.  And,  when  single 
Department  Heads  were  agitated  as  the  corrective  for  the  divided 
responsibility  and  shifting  membership  of  th^  Boards,  the  new  feat- 
ure was,  to  some  extent,  the  substitution  of  French  for  English 
practice.  Thus  Alexander  Hamilton  wrote,  in  1780:  "Congress 
should  instantly  appoint  the  following  greaj:  officers  of  State,  a  Secre- 
tary for  Foreign  Affairs,  a  President  of  War,  a  President  of  Marine, 
a  Financier,  a  President  of  Trade.  These  officers  should  have  nearly 
the  same  powers  and  functions  as  those  in  France  analogous  to  them ; 
and  each  should  be  chief  in  his  own  department;  with  subordinate 
boards  composed  of  assistants,  clerks,  etc.,  to  execute  his  orders." ' 
Acting  upon  suggestions  of  the  kind,  Congress  created  the  office  of 
Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  by  a  resolution  passed  January  10,  1781. 
And,  in  like  manner,  it  provided,  on  February  7,  for  a  Superintendent 
of  Finance,  a  Secretary  of  War,  and  a  Secretary  of  Marine.  The 
designation,  Superintendent  of  Finance,  was  an  appropriation  of  a 
French  title  of  office,  defunct  at  the  time." 

The  Departments  were  not  more  vigorous  than  other  branches  of 

Jameson,  Essays  in  the  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States:  J. 
C.  Guggenheimer,  The  Development  of  the  Executive  Departments,  148-165, 

a  Works  of  Hamilton,  (J.  C.  Hamilton  ed.)  i,  158-159,  Hamilton  to  James 
Duane.  Also  contemporary  letters  to  Robert  Morris  and  Isaac  Sears. 

•American  Historical  Review,  X,  565:  Henry  Barrett  Learned,  Origin  o\ 
Title  Superintendent  of  Finance. 


THE  OIJIGIN  OF  THE  CABINET.  3 

the  General  Government  during  the  period  of  the  Confederation.  A 
year  elapsed  before  the  Board  of  War  gave  way  to  a  single  head. 
Then,  General  Benjamin  Lincoln  served  as  Secretary  two  years,  a 
chief  clerk  supplied  a  year's  vacancy,  and  finally,  General  Henry 
Knox  assumed  the  office.  The  Department  of  Finance  reverted  to 
a  Board  of  Treasury,  when  Robert  Morris  was  no  longer  available 
for  superintendent.  The  Marine  Office  had  no  separate  existence, 
being  handed  over  to  the  Superintendent  of  Finance.  The  Depart- 
ment of  Foreign  Affairs  was  more  steadily  maintained  than  the 
others ;  it  had  for  incumbents  two  such  prominent  men  as  Robert  R. 
Livingston  and  John  Jay.  These_early  Department  Heads  were  the 
appointees  of  the  Congress.  They  were  also  the  agents  of  that 
body ;  and  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  personal  intercourse  with  it,  with- 
out being  members.  They  never  constituted  a  great  Executive 
Committee  or  college. 

However,  the  ex-officio  relation  of  the  great  administrative  officers 
to  councils  of  state,  and  even  ministries,  was  already  a  matter  of 
conscious  practice  in  the  English  and  some  Continental  Governments, 
having  its  beginnings,  so  far  as  the  Mother  Country  was  concerned 
back  of  the  founding  of  the  Colonies.  And  the  plan  was  not  likely 
to  be  ignored  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
The  Federal  Convention  had  the  question  of  a  Privy  Council  before 
it  in  several  forms.  About  June  4,  in  a  discussion  in  which  James 
Wilson  and  Roger  Sherman  were  the  principals,  the  subject  came  up, 
as  a  part  of  the  question  of  a  single  or  plural  Executive.*  Wilson  ob- 
served that  all  of  the  thirteen  States,  though  they  agreed  in  scarcely 
anything  else,  placed  a  single  magistrate  at  the  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Sherman  interposed  to  the  effect  that  in  all  of  the  States  there 
was  a  council  of  advice  without  which  the  chief  magistrate  could  not 
act,  and  that  this  would  seem  to  be  a  necessity,  in  order  to  make  the 
new  arrangement  acceptable  to  the  people.  "  Even  in  Great  Britain," 
he  said,  "  the  King  has  a  Council,  and,  though  he  appoints  it  himself, 
its  advice  has  its  weight  with  him,  and  attracts  the  confidence  of  the 
people."  The  question  was  then  put  to  Wilson,  whether  he  intended 
to  include  a  Council,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  did  not,  because 
such  a  body  served  more  often  to  cover  than  to  prevent  malpractices. 

*  Elliot's  Debates,  ed.  1845,  I,  150,  151. 


4  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Much  later  in  the  deliberations,  the  subject  came  up  for  fuller  dis- 
cussion. August  18°  Oliver  Ellsworth  remarked  that  a  council  had 
not  yet  been  provided  for  the  President,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  done. 
In  his  opinion,  such  a  body  should  be  made  up  of  the  President  of  the 
Senate,  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  Ministers 
for  the  Departments  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Affairs,  War,  Finance, 
and  Marine,  as  such  might  be  established,  and  it  should  advise,  but 
not  conclude  the  President.  Charles  Pinckney  threw  out  the  sugges- 
tion that  the  President  should  be  authorized  to  call  for  advice  or  not, 
as  he  might  choose ;  since,  if  he  were  given  an  able  council,  he  would 
be  thwarted  by  it,  and,  if  he  had  a  weak  one,  he  would  use  it  to  shelter 
himself. 

Two  days  later,  Gouverneur  Morris,  seconded  by  Charles  Pinck- 
ney, introduced  resolutions  upon  which  definite  action  was  taken.8 
There  should  be  a  Council  of  State ;  its  membership  should  consist  of 
the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  Heads  of  Depart- 
ments or  Secretaries,  of  which  there  should  be  five,  to  be  appointed 
by  the  President  and  to  hold  office  during  his  pleasure.  The  Presi- 
dent should  be  authorized  to  submit  any  matter  to  the  Council  for 
discussion,  and  to  require  the  written  opinion  of  any  one  or  more  of 
its  members.  But  he  should  be  expected  in  all  cases  to  use  his  own 
judgment,  and  either  conform  to  such  opinions  or  not,  as  he  might 
think  proper.  Moreover,  every  member  was  to  be  held  responsible 
for  his  opinion  on  the  affairs  relating  to  his  particular  Department. 

Morris'  plan  was  at  once  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Detail, 
whose  members  were  John  Rutledge,  Edmund  Randolph,  Nathaniel 
Gorham,  Oliver  Ellsworth,  and  James  Wilson.  August  22,  the  Com- 
mittee reported  a  clause  that  increased  the  proposed  membership 
by  two  officers :  "  The  President  of  the  United  States  shall  have  a 
Privy  Council,  which  shall  consist  of  the  President  of  the  Senate, 
the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  principal  officer  in  the  respective  De- 
partments of  Foreign  Affairs,  Domestic  Affairs,  War,  Marine,  and 

5  Elliot  Debates,  Ed.  1845,  V,  442. 
"Elliot  Debates,  Ed.   1845,  V,  446. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CABINET. 


Finance,  as  such  departments  of  office  shall  from  time  to  time  be 
established ;  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  advise  him  in  matters,  respect- 
ing the  execution  of  his  office,  which  he  shall  think  proper  to  lay 
before  them ;  but  their  advice  shall  not  conclude  him  nor  affect  his 
responsibility  for  the  measures  which  he  shall  adopt." ' 

It  was  the  fate  of  this  clause,  however,  to  be  one  of  those  that  the 
Convention,  weary  of  its  tedious  sittings  and  overwhelmed  with  many 
questions,  passed  over  to  the  Committee  of  States,  that  was  appointed 
towards  the  end  to  digest  the  unfinished  parts  of  the  Constitution 
in  draft.  And  in  the  hands  of  this  Committee,  the  plan  was  rejected, 
although  its  virtual  author,  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  another  pro- 
nounced advocate,  Roger  Sherman,  were  members.  In  lieu  of  it, 
there  were  reported,  September  4,  two  provisions,  that  have  since 
become  familiar  as  parts  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  "  TJoe-P*es- 
ident,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint 
ambassadors,  and  other  public  ministers,  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  all  other  officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  appointments 
are  not  herein  provided  for."  And,  "  He  may  require  the  opinion, 
in  writing,  of  the  principal  officer  in  each  of  the  Executive  Depart- 
ments, upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective 
offices."  '  This  merely  recognized  that  the  proposed  single  Executive 
would  come  into  such  relation  to  the  Departments,  as  Congress  had 
previously  enjoyed.  Making  the  proposed  Upper  Chamber  a  council 
of  appointments  is  traceable  to  the  example  of  the  State  of  New 
York.8 

But  another  plan  for  a  privy  council,  was  now  interjected  by 
George  Mason.  With  a  zeal  which  declared  that  to  reject  a  council  to 
the  President  was  to  try  an  experiment  upon  which  the  most  despotic 
government  had  never  ventured,  since  even  the  Grand  Seignior  had 
his  divan,  the  distinguished  Virginian  introduced  the  motion,  "  That 
it  be  an  instruction  to  the  Committee  of  the  States  to  prepare  a  clause 
or  clauses  for  establishing  an  Executive  council,  to  consist  of  six 
members,  two  from  the  Eastern,  two  from  the  Middle,  and  two  from 

7  Elliot  Debates,  Ed.  1845,  V,  462. 
"Elliot  Debates,  Ed.  1845,  V,  507. 

8  Constitution  of  New  York,  1777,  Article  XXIII. 


6  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

the  Southern  States,  with  a  rotation  and  duration  of  office  similar  to 
that  in  the  Senate,  such  council  to  be  appointed  by  the  Legislature  of 
the  State.10  Such  suggestion  of  Oriental  despotism  seems  for  a 
moment  to  have  reduced  the  misgivings  about  an  Executive  council 
to  mere  prejudice  against  the  plan  for  its  personal  union  with  the 
Departments  and  its  appointment  by  the  Chief  Executive.  At  any 
rate,  the  proposition  to  provide  for  a  privy  council  after  the  fashion 
of  those  in  the  States  found  distinguished  support.  Franklin  sec- 
onded Mason's  motion,  remarking  that  a  council  would  not  only 
be  a  check  upon  a  bad  President,  but  a  relief  to  a  good  one.  And 
Madison  spoke  in  favor  of  reinstructing  the  committee,  being  himself 
a  member  of  it.  But  Gouverneur  Morris  now  dissented,  saying  that 
the  question  of  a  council  had  been  considered  by  the  committee,  and 
that  it  was  decided  that  the  President  would  persuade  such  a  board 
to  concur  in  his  wrong  measures,  and  so  acquire  protection  for  them. 
This  was  decisive ;  for  the  motion  to  reinstruct  was  defeated  by  vote 
of  eight  States  to  three.  The  provision  that  the  President  should 
have  power  to  call  for  the  opinions  of  the  Heads  of  Departments  in 
writing  was  then  adopted,  only  one  State  dissenting.  The  clause 
constituting  the  Senate  a  council  to  .the  President  on  the  two  subjects 
of  appointments  and  treaties  had  been  adopted  earlier .u 

Thus  the  vague  fear  that  a  privy  council  would  make  the  Execu- 
tive the  more  formidable  was  allowed  to  have  its  way,  so  far  as  a 
Constitutional  provision  was  concerned.  But  far-seeing  minds  were 
not  unobservant  of  the  fact  that  the  way  was  left  open  for  such  a 
body  to  be  evolved.  The  point  was  made  once  or  twice,  by  Rutledge, 
chairman  of  the  committee  which  reported  favorably  on  the  Gouv- 
erneur Morris  scheme,  that  the  President  could  advise  with  the  high 
officers  of  State  voluntarily.13  Of  Hamilton's  views  no  intimation  was 
given  beyond  what  may  have  lurked  in  the  resolution  that  he  intro- 
duced, June  1 8,  that  the  Chief  Executive  should  have  the  sole  ap- 
pointment of  the  heads  or  chief  officers  of  the  Departments  of 
Finance,  War,  and  Foreign  Affairs."  But  Hamilton  foresaw  a  great 

10  Elliot  Debates,  Ed.  1845,  V,  522,  525. 

11  Elliot  Debates,  Ed.  1845,  V,  526. 

a  Elliot  Debates,  Ed.  1845,  V,  349,  442,  446. 
18  Elliot  Debates,  Ed.  1845,  V,  205. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CABINET.  7 

place  for  those  chief  officers.  George  Mason,  with  a  Virginian's 
faith  in  Privy  Councils,  combined  with  suspicion  of  the  New 
Yorker's  Senatorial  Council  of  Appointments,  and  hatred  of  English 
Cabinets,  pointed  out  the  lines  of  least  resistance,  and  declared  it  a 
certainty  that  they  would  lead  to  ruin.  The  President  had  no  Con- 
stitutional council,  a  thing  unknown  in  any  safe  and  regular  govern- 
ment. Being  unsupported  by  proper  information  and  advice,  he 
would  be  directed  by  minions  and  favorites,  or  he  would  become 
a  tool  of  the  Senate ;  or  a  council  of  state  would  grow  out  of  the  prin- 
cipal officers  of  the  great  departments,  the  worst  and  most  dangerous 
of  all  ingredients  for  such  a  council  in  a  free  country. 

It  was  true  that  the  Constitution  had  fixed  two  centres  from 
which  the  development  of  a  privy  council  might  proceed.  And  one 
of  these  was  the  Senate.  With  the  new  Government  inaugurated, 
the  President  made  a  series  of  attempts  to  utilize  the  provision  for 
advice  about  appointments  and  treaties.1*  The  most  notable  example 
is  Washington's  attendance,  accompanied  by  General  Knox,  as  Sec- 
retary of  War,  upon  the  Senate,  for  consultation  on  a  negotiation 
with  the  Indians.  But  he  found  that  body  gauche  and  even  unwilling, 
when  its  advisory  powers  were  called  into  play.  For  more  men  ap- 
prehended the  aggrandizement  of  the  Presidency  and  the  Depart- 
ments than  caught  the  vision  of  great  consultative  powers  for  the 
Upper  Chamber.  The  result  was  that  previous  consultation  was 
promptly  eliminated  both  from  appointment  making  and  treaty  mak- 
ing ;  and  the  evolution  of  a  Privy  Council  from  the  Senate  was  there- 
by precluded. 

The  other  nucleus  was  afforded  by  the  Departments.  Still  earlier 
than  his  attempt  to  frame  a  treaty  face  to  face  with  twenty-two  un- 
responsive Senators,  Washington  had  exercised  his  Constitutional 
power  to  call  upon  the  principal  officers  in  the  Departments  for 
written  opinions  about  subjects  relating  to  their  respective  offices, 
by  issuing  a  circular  letter,  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, the  Secretary  of  War,  the  Board  of  Treasury,  and  the  Post- 
master-General, all  being  appointees  of  the  old  Congress,  holding 

14  Proceedings  of  the  American  Political  Science  Association,  II,  128:  Mary 
L.  Hinsdale,  The  Cabinet  and  Congress. 


8  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

office  by  continuation  under  the  new  Government.15  Then  came  the 
great  series  of  statutes  that  placed  the  Departments  upon  a  new 
footing,  as  contemplated  by  the  Constitution.  The  Act  to  establish 
the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  was  passed  July  27,  1789;  and 
September  15,  the  Supplementary  Act,  adding  certain  internal  duties, 
and  changing  the  name  to  Department  of  State.  The  War  Depart- 
ment was  established  by  Act  of  August  7.  The  Treasury  was  delayed 
almost  a  month  longer,  until  September  2. 

fThere  were  certain  differences  of  expression  between  the  Treasury 
Act  and  the  others,  which  were  the  subject  of  extended  debate  at  the 
time,  and  were  reserved  for  more  momentous  controversy  forty  years 
afterwards.  The  State  and  War  establishments  were  styled,  Executive 
Departments,  while  that  of  Finance  was  called,  Department  of  Treas- 
ury. The  Secretaries  of  State  and  War,  it  was  ordered,  should 
"  perform  and  execute  such  duties  as  shall  from  time  to  time  be  en- 
joined on  or  entrusted  to  them  by  the  President  of  the  United  States." 
The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  on  the  other  hand,  was  to  discharge 
a  series  of  functions  that  were  enumerated  by  statute,  and  more  gen- 
erally, "  to  perform  all  such  services  relative  to  the  finances,  as  he 
shall  be  directed  to  perform,"  the  law  being  silent  as  to  whether 
President  or  Congress  should  give  the  directions.  Furthermore, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  formally  authorized  "  to  make 
report  and  give  information  to  either  branch  of  the  Legislature,  in 
person  or  in  writing,  as  he  may  be  required."  So  far  the  Treasury 
preserved  much  of  its  position  under  the  old  Government.  However, 
the  Heads  of  all  the  Departments  alike  were  to  be  appointed  by  the 
President  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  and  all  were 
removable  by  the  President  alone.16  . 

(The  office  of  Attorney-General  was  created  by  the  Act  to  establish 
the  Judicial  Courts  of  the  United  States,  passed  September  24.  Its 
functions  were  to  prosecute  in  the  Supreme  Court  all  suits  in  which 
the  United  States  was  concerned,  and  to  serve  as  counsel  on  questions 
of  law  to  the  President  and  the  Heads  of  Departments," 

"Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  u,  12  (with  Footnote). 
18  Statutes  at  Large,  I,  28,  49,  65. 
"  Statutes  at  Large,  I,  93. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CABINET.  9 

The  final  and  most  essential  action  in  the  formation  of  the  Cabinet 
is  the  institution  by  the  President,  without  authority  of  law,  of  a 
college  of  advisers  made  up  of  the  three  Department  Heads  and  the 
Attorney-General.  This  step  presents  a  problem  in  the  setting  apart 
of  those  particular  officers  from  certain  others  who  were  more  or  less 
obvious  candidates  for  place  in  the  President's  councils. 

A  year  had  elapsed  from  the  inauguration  of  the  Government,' 
before  the  Secretaries  and  Attorney-General  were  fully  established 
in  their  offices.  Alexander  Hamilton,  of  New  York,  and  Henry 
Knox,  of  Massachusetts,  officially  appointed  to  the  Treasury  and  War 
Departments,  on  September  n  and  12,  had  been  in  virtual  possession 
from  the  first.  Hamilton,  though  he  was  technically  but  a  by-stander, 
had  assisted  at  the  creation  of  his  prospective  Department,  by  suf- 
ferance of  the  President  and  Congress.  The  appointments  were 
completed  within  a  couple  of  weeks.  But  it  was  several  months, 
before  Edmund  Randolph,  the  Attorney-General,  arrived  from  Vir- 
ginia. And  Thomas  Jefferson  assumed  the  State  Department  so 
late  as  March,  1790,  delaying  for  a  visit  to  his  Virginia  estates,  after 
he  had  quitted  his  diplomatic  post  at  Paris.  In  the  early  consulta- 
tions, these  officers  are  far  from  equally  conspicuous.  It  is  only  in 
Cabinet  polls  that  the  President's  official  advisers  ever  are  equal. 
And  during  this  preliminary  season,  when  consultations  are  recorded 
in  written  opinions  only,  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  Attorney- 
General  are  not  strongly  in  evidence.  General  Knox'  inferior  ability 
in  the  writing  of  state  papers  probably  explains  the  case  so  far  as  he 
is  concerned. 

Still  further,  a  coterie  of  informal  advisers,  made  up  of  Madison 
and  Jay,  and  sometimes  Adams,  had  been  in  the  President's  councils 
during  the  preceding  year.18  And  with  the  Departments  and  the  Ju- 
diciary organized,  the  two  groups  become  intermixed.  Irregular  con- 
sultations with  Congressional  leaders,  and  perhaps  with  the  Chief 
Justice  and  Vice-President,  are  common  to  all  Presidents.  They 
arise  from  both  official  and  personal  reasons.  But  with  the  Cabinet 
in  a  nascent  condition,  we  would  discover  what  principle  determined 
the  separation.  And  we  cannot  forbear  to  notice  that  if  we  substi- 

18  Writings  of  Washington,  X,  Appendices  II,  IV. 


io  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

tute  the  figure  of  Madison,  the  leader  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, for  Muehlenburg  the  Speaker,  the  entire  group  corresponds 
exceedingly  well  with  the  Privy  Council  that  had  been  formally 
recommended  by  Committee  to  the  Federal  Convention.  If,  however, 
we  would  determine  the  principle  upon  which  the  line  was  drawn 
between  Cabinet  and  extra-Cabinet  consultations,  we  must  examine 
a  long  series  of  more  or  less  petty  occurrences. 

A  few  weeks  after  Jefferson's  arrival  at  New  York,  Washington 
wrote  to  Lafayette :  "  Many  of  your  old  acquaintances  are  associated 
with  me  in  the  administration  of  the  Government.  By  having  Mr. 
Jefferson  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  State,  Mr.  Jay  of  the 
Judiciary,  Hamilton  of  the  Treasury,  and  Knox  of  that  of  War,  I 
find  myself  supported  by  able  coadjutors  who  harmonize  extremely 
well  together."  He  here  includes  the  Chief  Justice  and  omits  the 
Attorney-General,  where  a  later  President  would  have  called  the 
names  of  his  Cabinet. 

August  27,  1790,  the  President,  by  circular  letter,  called  for 
written  opinions  on  the  following  questions :  "  What  should  be  the 
answer  of  the  Executive  of  the  United  States  to  Lord  Dorchester, 
in  case  he  should  apply  for  permission  to  march  troops  through  the 
territory  of  the  said  States  from  Detroit  to  the  Mississippi  ?  "  And, 
"  What  notice  ought  to  be  taken  of  the  measure,  if  it  should  be 
undertaken  without  leave,  which  is  the  most  probable  proceeding  of 
the  two  ?  "  On  this  occasion,  the  three  Secretaries,  the  Chief  Justice, 
and  the  Vice-President  were  called  upon  for  advice,  but  not  the  At- 
torney-General.19 

In  preparing  the  Annual  Address  to  Congress  that  was  delivered 
December  8,  1790,  the  President  consulted  the  three  Secretaries  and 

19  The  Editors  of  Washington's  Works  make  the  statement  that  the  circular 
letter  was  addressed  to  "the  several  members  of  the  Cabinet"  and  to  the 
Vice-President  and  the  Chief  Justice  in  addition — Writings  of  Washington, 
Sparks  ed.,  X,  112,  Footnote;  Ford  ed.,  XI,  407,  Footnote—.  But  the  Letter 
Books  give  no  sign  that  the  Attorney-General  was  asked  for  art  opinion.  They 
do  indicate,  however,  that  Randolph  was  on  one  of  his  absences  from  the  seat 
of  Government — Letter  Book,  1790,  I,  2,  3,  Washington  to  Randolph,  August 
25- 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CABINET.  n 

the  Chief  Justice,  and  apparently  left  out  the  Attorney-General.8" 
Some  of  the  earlier  Addresses,  it  is  attested,  were  submitted  for 
criticism  to  Madison.21 

The  famous  consultation  on  the  question  whether  the  Act  to 
Incorporate  the  Subscribers  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was 
constitutional  (February  15-25,  1791)  brings  the  Attorney-General 
into  prominence.  If  the  accepted  tradition  be  correct,  the  Attorney- 
General  and  each  of  the  three  Secretaries  were  called  upon  for 
written  opinions,  and  the  Cabinet  comes  into  view  differentiated.  But 
there  is  a  negative  evidence  that  the  Secretary  of  War  was  over- 
looked on  this  occasion.  According  to  Washington's  own  statement, 
he  had  at  first  called  upon  the  Attorney-General,  in  whose  line  the 
matter  seemed  more  particularly  to  be,  for  his  official  examination 
and  opinion.  The  Attorney- General's  report  being  that  the  Consti- 
tution did  not  warrant  the  Act,  he  then  applied  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  his  sentiments  upon  the  subject.  These  being  found  to 
coincide  with  the  Attorney-General's,  he  required  an  opinion  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The  Secretary  of  War,  he  does  not 
mention.23  Neither  do  any  other  contemporary  documents  make 
reference  to  that  officer.23  We  suspect  that  such  a  great  Constitu- 
tional question  was  too  alien  to  Knox's  talents  for  him  to  be  called 
upon.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  was  absent  from  the  seat  of  Gov- 
ernment. Howbeit,  the  consultation  has  an  extraneous  figure  in  the 
person  of  Madison,  who  prepared  for  the  President  a  draft  of  a  veto 
message.24 

20  Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  116,  Washington  to  Hamilton, 
October  10;  also  119,  Washington  to  Knox,  November  2;  Writings  of  Jef- 
ferson, Ford  ed.,  V,  257;  Correspondence  and  Public  Papers  of  John  Jay, 
III,  409. 

21  Hamilton,  History  of  the  Republic,  IV,  520,  Hamilton  to  Carrington,  May 
26,  1792. 

23  Washington's  Letter  Book,  Treasury  Department,  1790,  1792;  Works  of 
Alexander  Hamilton,  J.  C.  Hamilton  ed.,  1851,  IV,  103. 

23  Clarke  and  Hall,  Legislative  and  Documentary  History  of  the  First  Bank 
of  the  United  States.  36  et  seq. 

'"Writings  of  James  Madison,  Hunt  ed.,  VI,  42.  The  accepted  tradition 
seems  to  have  been  established  by  Marshall,  who  uses  the  following  words: 
"The  Cabinet  was  divided  upon  it  (the  Bank).  .  .  .  The  advice  of  each 


12  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

The  next  pertinent  event  is  a  rudimentary  Cabinet  meeting,  rudi- 
mentary in  that  it  lacked  the  essential  figure  of  the  President,  but 
included  the  Vice-President.  The  circumstances  were  that  Washing- 
ton, on  setting  out  for  a  two  weeks'  tour  of  the  South,  addressed  a 
letter,  April  4,  1791,  to  the  three  Secretaries,  saying  that  they  should 
meet  together  for  consultation,  if  any  important  business  arose 
during  his  absence,  and  that  the  Vice-President  should  be  included 
in  their  councils,  if  he  had  not  already  left  the  seat  of  Government. 
Neither  the  Attorney-General  nor  the  Chief  Justice  was  mentioned 
in  the  order;  but  Jefferson,  who  summoned  a  meeting,  included 
Randolph  with  the  others.25 

In  1792,  the  Cabinet  becomes  better  differentiated.  In  April,  the 
three  Secretaries  and  the  Attorney-General  ^ach  submittd  an  opinion 
on  the  constitutionality  of  an  Act  for  the  Apportionment  of  Represen- 
tatives, this  being  the  occasion  of  the  first  veto.26  On  August  15,  the 
President,  while  enjoying  his  annual  vacation  at  Mt  Vernon,  wrote 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  regarding  certain  Indian  despatches,  and 
requested  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should  also  consider 
them,  observing  that  he  should  also  have  included  the  Secretary  of 
State,  had  the  latter  officer  been  at  Philadelphia.  In  a  communication 
of  four  days  later,  he  added  that  the  Attorney-General  should  also 
be  called  on  to  aid  with  his  opinions.27  In  September  there  appears  to 
have  been  a  written  consultation  between  the  President  and  each  of 
the  four  chosen  officers  regarding  the  Executive  Proclamation,  issued 
on  the  1 5th  of  that  month  in  consequence  of  the  violation  of  the 


Minister  with  his  reasoning  in  support  of  it  was  required  in  writing" — Life 
of  Washington,  V,  345 — .  But  neither  Marshall  nor  any  other  early  writer 
states  what  was  Knox's  opinion.  Hildreth  seems  to  be  the  first  of  those  that 
venture  to  be  more  definite :  "  The  President  required  the  written  opinions  of 
the  members  of  his  Cabinet  as  to  its  (the  Bank's)  constitutionality.  Hamilton, 
supported  by  Knox,  was  strong  in  the  affirmative;  Jefferson  and  Randolph 
took  the  other  side — the  first  instance,  it  would  seem,  of  an  important  differ- 
ence of  opinion  in  the  Cabinet " — History  of  the  United  States,  IV,  263. 

25  Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  157 ;  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford 
ed.,  I,  165. 

28  Works  of  Hamilton,  J.  C,  Hamilton  ed.,  1851,  IV,  196-215 

"Writings   of  Washington,    Sparks   ed.,   X,  266-275. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CABINET.  13 

Excise  Law.28  Furthermore,  each  was  called  upon  for  both  special 
and  general  suggestions  concerning  the  Annual  Address  to  Congress 
that  was  delivered  December  8,  I792.29 

Meanwhile,  a  fuller  collegiate  character  was  being  added  by  an 
occasional  Cabinet  meeting.  Presumably,  these  were  in  the  first 
place  informal ;  and  it  is  pleasant  to  think  that  they  were  facilitated 
by  the  personal  ties  between  Washington  and  his  official  household. 
Between  him  and  Jefferson,  there  had  hitherto  been  only  a  formal 
acquaintance,  but  the  style  of  their  association  as  President  and  Sec- 
retary was  friendly.  Randolph  he  had  known  as  military  aide,  neigh- 
bor, and  business  adviser.  Towards  Knox  he  felt  the  bond  of  com- 
radeship in  the  Revolutionary  War  very  strongly.  And  to  Hamilton, 
he  was  as  deeply  attached  as  he  was  to  Lafayette.  Furthermore, 
three  of  this  group  of  five  were  Virginians,  two  of  whom  had  been 
Governors  of  their  State;  whence  it  is  highly  probable  that  the 
collegiate  Executive  of  the  Old  Dominion  put  its  stamp  upon  the 
National  councils.30  Cabinet  meetings  of  1792,  and  perhaps  1791, 
are  recorded,  rather  vaguely,  it  is  true,  in  Jefferson's  Anas.  But  with 
the  opening  of  1793,  they  are  attested  by  Washington  and  Hamilton 
also,  and  formal  summonses  appear.31 

2S  Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  296. 

20  Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  282-285  (with  Footnote),  289. 

30  Constitution  of  Virginia,  1776. 

31  March  n,  1792,  Jefferson  writes,  speaking  of  the  latter  part  of  November, 
1791,  "  Hamilton  then  proposed  to  the  President  at  one  of  our  meetings " 
etc. ;  and  in  the  same  entry,  he  refers  to  "  one  of  our  consultations  "  held  in 
December  of  that  year.     (2)  March  9,  he  notes  for  the  day  "  a  consultation 

at ,  present  H.  K.  &  J.     (3)  March  31,  he  records  "A  meeting  at  the 

P's,  present  Th.  J.,  A.  H.,  H.  K.  &  E.  R.  "the  question  being  whether  the 
Executive  should  comply  with  the  call  of  a  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  upon  the     Secretary  of  War,  for  papers  relating  to  General 
St.  Clair's  expedition  in  the  Northwest.     April  12,  he  says  "Met  again  at 
P's  on  same  subject"   (4)   October  31,  a  propos  of  the  Spanish  interference 
with  the  execution  of  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  the  Creeks, 
he  says  "he  (the  President)  desired  a  consultation  of  Hamilton,  Knox,  E.  R., 
and  myself  on  these  points."  This  consultation  which  Jefferson  records  in 
very  definite  terms,  seems  to  be  one,  or  one  of  a  series,  that  John  C.  Hamil- 
ton, in  his  Republic  denies  ever  to  have  occurred,  V,  121.     (5)  December  10, 
the   Anas   says,    "Present:    A.    H.,   General    Knox,   E.    R.  &   Th.   J.   at  the 


14  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

But  the  decisive  hours  for  the  coherence  of  the  Cabinet  were  in 
the  months  of  panic,  produced  by  the  mission  of  the  French  Minis- 
ter Genet.  The  most  tangible  mark  of  this  is  the  closer  association 
of  the  Attorney-General  with  the  rest  of  the  group.  Randolph's 
aptitude  for  foreign  affairs  now  made  him  a  real  force  in  the  Ex- 
ecutive Councils ;  while  it  so  happened  that  the  division  which  had 
existed  since  the  Bank  consultation  gave  to  him  the  balance  of  power 
in  the  Cabinet  polls  to  which  the  President  now  resorted.32  It  was  to 
Randolph,  rather  than  the  Attorney-General,  that  the  increased  im- 
portance belonged;  nevertheless,  the  office  enjoyed  a  better  assured 
place  thereafter.  Furthermore,  the  whole  Cabinet  felt  the  cementing 
influence  of  assembling  frequently.  On  April  19,  occurred  one  of 
the  most  momentous  Cabinet  meetings  of  American  history,  the  pur- 
pose being  to  arrange  a  policy  of  neutrality  on  the  basis  of  a  schedule 
of  questions  regarding  the  treaties  with  France,  which  the  President 
had  submitted  on  the  i8th,  by  circular  letter.33  And  throughout  the 
summer  and  autumn  of  1793,  there  were  very  frequent,  often  daily 
sessions,  with  the  interruption  of  the  President's  vacation  at  Mt. 
Vernon.  Jefferson  marked  this  season  as  the  real  beginning  of  as- 
sembled consultation ;  for  he  wrote,  seventeen  years  afterwards,  that 
it  had  been  Washington's  practice  to  confer  with  his  advisers  sepa- 
rately, until  the  affairs  of  England  and  France,  which  threatened  to 
embroil  the  United  States,  rendered  discussion  desirable.8* 

The  President  also  attempted,  at  this  crisis,  to  attach  advisory 
functions  to  the  highest  Judicial  authority.  Some  of  the  State  Con- 
President's  the  subject  being  a  proposed  Indian  treaty  " — Writings  of  Jeffer- 
son, Ford  ed.,  I,  179-210. 

For  a  Cabinet  meeting  of  February  25,  1793,  see  Washington,  Sparks  ed., 
X,  317;  Hamilton,  J.  C.  Hamilton  ed.,  IV,  340;  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  I,  218. 

Also  for  the  two  meetings  held  to  discuss  the  style  of  the  President's 
second  inauguration,  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  322,  Footnote;  Hamilton, 
J.  C.  Hamilton  ed.,  IV,  341,  342. 

"Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  I,  228;  Anas,  May  7,  1793:  ibid.  270; 
Anas,  November  28,  1793:  ibid.  V,  344;  Jefferson  to  Madison,  August  n,  1793. 

83  Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  337 ;  also  Appendix  XV. 

M  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  IX,  273 ;  Jefferson  to  Walter  Jones,  March 
5,  1810. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CABINET.  15 

stitutions  furnished  a  sort  of  precedent  for  such  action.85  We  believe, 
however,  that  Washington  simply  lent  himself  in  this  matter  to  one 
of  Hamilton's  ideas.  The  President  called  upon  the  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  with  a  long  list  of  questions,  for  an  application  of 
certain  principles  of  international  law  to  the  treaties  between  the 
United  States  and  France.  But  the  extraordinary  counsel  idea  was 
frustrated  by  the  refusal  of  the  Judges  to  answer  the  questions,  on  the 
ground  that  they  lay  outside  of  their  province.86  On  this  occasion,  an 
interesting  conversation  occurred  between  Jefferson  and  Randolph. 
The  Secretary  of  State  proposed  to  the  Attorney-General  that  a  bill 
be  prepared  to  be  submitted  to  Congress  for  the  creation  of  a  Board 
of  Advice  on  International  Law,  and  kindred  subjects;  to  which  the 
Attorney-General  replied  that  he  should  propose  annexing  such  Board 
to  his  own  office,  whereat  the  other  dropped  the  subject."  It  would 
seem  that  Randolph's  idea  was  virtually  brought  to  pass,  years 
afterwards,  by  the  creation,  inside  of  the  Department  of  Justice,  of 
Solicitors,  or  Assistant  Attorneys-General  to  the  State  and  other 
Departments. 

Not  only  was  a  definite  Council  now  set  apart  by  the  President's 
repeated  summonses ;  but  it  began  to  be  called  by  a  particular  name. 
Madison,  Jefferson,  and  Randolph  were  among  the  first  to  refer  to 
the  President's  Council  as  the  Cabinet.  Washington  did  not  employ 
the  term,  his  customary  phrase  being  "  the  Secretaries  and  the 
Attorney-General,"  or,  "  the  Heads  of  Departments  and  the 
Attorney-General,"  with  such  variations  as  "  the  confidential  officers 
of  Government,"  and  "  the  gentlemen  with  whom  I  usually  advise 
on  these  occasions."  Neither  did  Hamilton  adopt  the  name  Cabinet, 
though  he  freely  employed  the  term  Ministers.  In  Congressional 
usage  we  have  not  noted  the  name  earlier  than  the  spring  of  1806, 
when  the  changes  were  rung  on  it  in  a  caustic  debate  in  which  John 
Randolph  figured.  It  appears  in  a  Resolution  of  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, for  the  first  time,  we  believe,  so  late  as  July  1867.  And 
it  remained  unknown  to  the  statutes,  until  it  appeared  in  the  General 
Appropriation  Act  of  February  26,  1907. 

35  Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  1780;  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania,  1776. 
"Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  360:  also  Apendix  XVIII. 
"  Conway,  Edmund  Randolph,  186. 


16  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

It  remains  to  formulate  the  principle  by  which  the  members  of  the 
Cabinet  were  set  apart  from  other  advisers  to  the  President. 
Obviously  the  inner  Council  was  built  upon  the  plan  that  had  been 
before  the  Federal  Convention,  having  for  its  basis  the  administra- 
tive Departments,  but  including  the  chiefs  of  all  the  branches  of  the 
Government.  How  soon  Washington  drew  a  line  in  his  own  mind 
across  the  larger  group,  there  is  nothing  to  show ;  the  Cabinet  meet- 
ing marks  the  visible  separation.  There  is  some  slight  ground  for 
believing  that  in  choosing  his  judicial  adviser,  he  hesitated  between 
the  Chief  Justice  and  the  much  humbler  Attorney-General,  who  had 
not  been  named  in  the  Convention.  As  for  the  rule  by  which  the  line 
was  drawn, — there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  removability  by  the 
President,  a  conclusion  that  is  borne  out  by  the  whole  history  of  the 
Cabinet. 


PRESIDENT. 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  Virginia. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
JOHN  ADAMS,  Massachusetts. 


April  30,  1789,  to  March  4,  1793. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  of  Virginia,  September  26,  1789. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  of  New  York,  September  n,   1789. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 
HENRY  KNOX,  of  Massachusetts,  September  12,  1789. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 
EDMUND  RANDOLPH,  of  Virginia,  September  26,   1789. 


PRESIDENT. 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  Virginia. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
JOHN  ADAMS,  Massachusetts. 


March  4,  1793,  to  March  4,  1797. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
EDMUND  RANDOLPH,  of  Virginia,  January  2,  1794. 
TIMOTHY    PICKERING,    of    Pennsylvania    (Secretary    of    War),    ad    interim, 

August  20,  1795. 
TIMOTHY  PICKERING,  of  Pennsylvania,  December  10,  1795. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
OLIVER  WOLCOTT,  JR.,  of  Connecticut,  February  2,  1795. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

HENRY  KNOX,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
TIMOTHY  PICKERING,  of  Pennsylvania,  January  2,  1795. 
JAMES  McHENRY,  of  Maryland,  January  27,  1796. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

EDMUND  RANDOLPH,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  BRADFORD,  of  Pennsylvania,  January  27,  1794. 
CHARLES  LEE,  OF  VIRGINIA,  December  10,  1795. 


18 


WASHINGTON. 

The  first  Cabinets  that  Washington  formed  had  two  features  which 
should  command  particular  attention  for  the  very  reason  that  their 
unsuitability  to  the  political  genius  of  the  new  Nation  was  so  quickly 
demonstrated.  We  refer,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  bend  that  was 
momentarily  given  to  the  Executive  by  Hamilton.  Though  the 
great  Secretary-Publicist  bears  a  general  reputation  for  political 
anglomania,  the  fund  of  comment  upon  his  theories  and  purposes 
has  been  more  fragmentary  than  exhaustive.  Nor  can  we  at  present 
be  more  ambitious  than  to  note  his  more  striking  utterances  and 
practices. 

In  one  of  his  Federalist  Letters,  Hamilton  points  to  a  radical  dif- 
ference between  the  English  and  American  Executive  as  proof  that 
a  Constitutional  Council  to  the  President  would  bring  bad  results. 
The  English  Government  had  a  permanent  Chief  Magistrate ;  his 
person  was  sacred :  whence  it  had  been  convenient  for  the  maxim 
to  prevail  that  he  was  irresponsible.  And  the  responsibility  that 
could  not  reside  in  him,  a  Constitutional  Council  was  the  most  eligi- 
ble means  of  supplying.  But  under  a  republican  Government,  no 
such  character  appertained  to  the  Chief  Magistrate ;  he  was  himself 
a  responsible  officer :  whence  the  addition  of  a  Constitutional  Council 
would  vitiate,  or  at  least  seriously  impair,  in  the  American  Executive, 
the  very  thing  that  it  supplied  to  the  British.1  In  his  practice,  as  in 
his  writings,  Hamilton  never  put  any  stress  upon  the  collegiate  Cabi- 
net, though  he  conceived  that  the  President  must  necessarily  act 
through  Ministers. 

Especially  did  he  conceive  of  the  Head  of  the  Treasury  as  a  more 
exalted  officer  of  state  than  earlier  use  of  the  title,  Secretary,  would 
signify.  In  the  Federalist  he  forecast  that  the  finances  were  to  be  put 

'The  Federalist,  No.  LXX. 

19 


20  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

into  the  hands  of  a  single  statesman,  who  should  be  not  merely  an  ad- 
ministrative officer,  but  the  originator  of  all  plans  of  revenue.'  On 
the  vital  question  of  separation  of  the  great  branches  of  government, 
Hamilton  upheld  the  Constitutional  arrangement  as  a  security  to  the 
rights  of  the  people.*  But  the  provision  that  officers  of  the  Govern- 
ment shall  not  at  the  same  time  be  members  of  the  Legislature,  left 
room,  as  he  construed  it,  for  personal  communication  with  Congress 
by  Department  Heads,  as  practiced  under  the  former  Government. 
Indeed  it  would  seem  to  have  denied  none  of  a  member's  active  privi- 
leges except  voting. 

All  these  views  the  prospective  Secretary  was  able  to  incorporate 
into  the  Treasury  Act.  It  is  true  that  a  heated  debate  in  the  House 
resulted  in  a  narrowing  of  the  proposed  authority  to  introduce  plans 
for  revenue,  by  withholding  the  privilege  of  making  uncalled  for 
reports.*  Still  the  head  of  the  Department  remained  potentially  a 
real  Minister  of  Finance.  Furthermore,  the  provision  that  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  should  make  reports  in  person  or  in  writ- 
ing-, as  directed,  seems  by  its  very  absence  from  the  Acts  creating 
the  State  and  War  Departments,  to  set  apart  the  Minister  of  Finance 
as  the  organ  of  communication  between  the  Executive  and  Congress. 
All  in  all,  the  Treasury  was  to  be  the  very  heart  of  the  administra- 
tion, not  only  the  main  artery  through  which  the  stream  of  Executive 
operations  must  pass,  but  also  the  seat  of  the  propelling  force. 

For  Hamilton's  activities  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Depart- 
ment lines  scarcely  existed.  He  concerned  himself  with  proposed 
commercial  negotiations  with  England  and  France,  and  held  con- 
ferences to  that  end  with  the  Ministers  of  those  Governments.5 
Resisted  by  Jefferson  with  some  success,  he  went  so  far  as  to  order 
the  revision  of  the  foreign  despatches  when  Randolph  was  Secretary.6 
And  he  assumed  the  leading  part  in  shaping  Jay's  mission  to  Eng- 

2  Federalist,  No.  XXXVI. 

3  Federalist,  No.  LI. 

v.  "Annals  of  Congress,  I,  616-631:  Works  of  Fisher  Ames,  I,  56. 

'Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  Appendix  XIII;  Jefferson  to 
Washington,  September  9,  1792. 

'Works  of  Hamilton,  J.  C.  Hamilton  ed.,  IV,  544. 


WASHINGTON.  21 

land.7  He  concerned  himself  equally  about  the  business  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  found  Knox  comparatively  tractable.  His 
crowning  act  of  assumption  of  responsibility  occurred  in  the  Whiskey 
Insurrection,  when  he  accompanied  the  President  on  the  expedition 
into  Western  Pennsylvania,  in  some  such  fashion  as  a  chancellor 
attends  his  emperor  in  the  field.  This  affair  he  made  a  pretense  of 
bringing  within  the  pale  of  his  own  Department,  by  urging  that  the 
insurrection  was  in  resistance  to  the  Excise  Act,  and  that  in  such  a 
Government  as  the  American,  it  must  have  a  good  effect  for  the  per- 
son who  was  understood  to  be  the  advisor  or  proposer  of  a  measure 
that  brought  danger  to  his  fellow  citizens,  to  share  in  that  danger 
himself.8  Both  of  the  other  Secretaries  seem  to  have  countenanced 
this  Chief  Ministership  to  the  extent  of  referring  to  the  Treasury  as 
an  intermediary  between  their  Departments  and  Congress,  when 
money  was  desired.  Thus  Jefferson  referred  a  proposed  negotiation 
with  the  Barbary  States  to  Hamilton,  on  the  question,  how  great  a 
douceur  the  Senate  would  agree  to.9  And  a  similar  situation  is  found 
in  the  communication  to  the  House  of  Representatives  by  Hamilton 
of  what  was  really  a  request  from  Knox  for  the  rehabilitation  of 
West  Point10  Hamilton  also  assumed  authority  to  call  upon  the  Chief 
Justice  to  prepare  a  draft  of  a  Proclamation  of  Neutrality  in  the 
hour  of  Minister  Genet's  arrival."  And  it  was  at  his  instance  that  the 
President  turned  to  the  Supreme  Bench  for  extraordinary  counsel. 
Of  his  legal  responsibility  to  the  President,  the  Secretary-Minister 
seems  to  have  been  duly  sensible.  It  is  true  that  he  addressed  to 
the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  a  notice  of  his  intention 
to  retire ;  but  this  seems  to  be  traceable  entirely  to  the  fact  that  his 
Department  was  undergoing  investigation  at  the  time.13 

TJ.  C.  Hamilton,  History  of  the  Republic,  IV,  544-554,  567. 

8  Works  of  Hamilton,  J.  C.  Hamilton  ed.,  V,  30;  Hamilton  to  Washington, 
September  19,  1794. 

9  Works  of  Hamilton,  J.  C.  Hamilton  ed.,  IV,  215. 

10  Works  of  Hamilton,  III,  82. 

11  Correspondence  and  Public  Papers  of  John  Jay,  III,  474-477. 

12  J.  C.  Hamilton,  History  of  the  Republic,  IV,  136;  Hamilton  to  Speaker 
of  House  of  Representatives,  December  i,  1794. 


22  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Such  assumption  of  authority  was  not  slow  to  incur  the  charge  of 
Ministerial  ambition.  Edmund  Pendleton,  a  looker-on  in  Virginia, 
plainly  asserted,  writing  to  Washington,  that  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  had  "  made  the  system  of  the  British  Ministry  the  model  of 
his  conduct  as  assumed  American  primate." '  The  question  arises 
whether  Hamilton's  conception  of  the  Executive  does  not  better  re- 
semble the  Elizabethan  than  any  Georgian  model.  But,  whatever  his 
theory  was,  his  practice  looked  to  a  chief  ministership,  which,  if 
realized,  must  have  circumscribed  the  development  of  the  Presidency, 
and  have  given  a  very  different  trend  to  American  practice  in 
legislation. 

The  other  marked  feature  of  the  early  Executive  that  quickly 
proved  impracticable  was  the  representation  in  the  Cabinet  of  dif- 
ferent political  parties.  This  practice  was  attendant  upon  the  idea 
that  the  President  was  superior  to  party.  Such  conception  was  soon 
found  to  be  totally  incongruous  with  having  the  highest  office  in  a  re- 
publican government  elective,  though  it  was  justified  by  the  working 
of  the  machinery  for  choosing  Presidents  in  1789  and  again  in  1793. 
Furthermore,  Washington  himself  found  mixed  councils  a  sore  griev- 
ance, and  settled  down  to  a  party  Cabinet  for  the  last  two  years  of 
his  administration.  Doubtless  the  quarrels  between  Jefferson  and 
Hamilton  gave  him  a  turn  towards  this  decision.  But  a  more  im- 
mediate incentive  was  his  grief  and  rage  at  Randolph's  faithlessness 
towards  the  administration,  while  he  was  Secretary  of  State. 

The  theory  of  a  balanced  Executive  has  been  overdone,  when  it  has 
been  used  to  explain  the  original  Cabinet  appointments.  And  some  of 
the  familiar  statements  about  it  commit  the  double  anachronism  of 
assuming,  both,  that  parties  were  differentiated,  and  that  a  clear 
notion  of  the  Cabinet  existed,  when  those  appointments  were  made. 
It  seems  a  trustworthy  tradition  that  Washington  fixed  upon  Ham- 
ilton for  the  Treasury,  Jay  and  Robert  Morris  advising  it,  for  the 
paramount  reason  of  his  ability  to  organize  the  finances.  And 
regarding  the  selection  of  Jefferson  and  Randolph,  there  are  letters 
by  Washington  that  speak  of  fitness  and  availability,  but  are  silent 

"Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  370,  Footnote. 


WASHINGTON.  23 

about  those  gentlemen's  views  of  the  Constitution.  But  a  clear  pur- 
pose to  represent  widely  divergent  political  sentiments  in  the  Execu- 
tive appears  in  the  President's  persistent  efforts  to  retain  the  two 
great  leaders  after  distinctions  of  Federalist  and  Republican  had 
brought  discord  into  the  administration. 

Everybody  knows  that  the  two  Secretaries  had  common  ground 
enough  at  the  outset  to  enter  into  a  bargain,  whereby  the  Virginian 
gave  his  influence  to  such  a  centralizing  measure  as  the  assumption 
of  the  State  debts,  in  return  for  a  concession  to  Southern  pride  by 
the  New  Yorker,  in  the  matter  of  locating  the  National  Capital. 
Jefferson's  first  note  of  opposition  to  Hamilton  was  sounded  in  a 
letter  written  in  January,  1791,  when  the  Bank  Act  was  pending. 
He  herein  refers  to  the  need  of  putting  the  agricultural  interest  above 
that  of  the  stock  jobbers;  and  goes  on  to  say  that  there  is  a  sect 
in  the  Government,  which  is  opposed  to  the  French,  and  which 
believes  that  the  English  Constitution  contains  whatever  is  perfect 
in  human  institutions.  At  about  the  same  date,  the  correspondence 
between  the  two  Secretaries  loses  its  personal  flavor,  and  becomes 
strictly  official.  By  the  following  year,  the  breach  had  so  widened 
that  the  hostile  Ministers  fought  a  battle  in  the  newspapers,  Jeffer- 
son attacking  Hamilton  through  the  columns  of  Freneau's  National 
Gazette,  and  Hamilton  retaliating  through  Fenno's  Gazette  of  the 
United  States.  The  situation  demanded  the  interposition  of  the 
President ;  and  Washington  addressed  a  long  letter  to  each,  in  which 
he  enjoined  "  mutual  forbearance "  and  "  temporizing  yieldings," 
and  lamented  that  the  young  government  was  endangered  by  animos- 
ities between  those  who  should  be  its  protectors.14  In  1793,  the  Cabi- 
net table  became  the  scene  of  such  quarrels  that  Jefferson  afterwards 
wrote :  "  Hamilton  and  I  were  daily  pitted  in  the  Cabinet  like  two 
cocks."  " 

As  the  President's  first  term  of  office  neared  its  close,  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  talked  of  resignation;  but  his  chief  dissuaded  him. 
And  on  one  occasion,  Washington  is  represented  as  distinctly  saying 

"Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  X,  Appendix  XIII. 
15  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  X,  273 ;  Jefferson  to  Walter  Jones,  March 
5,  1810. 


24  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

that  it  was  important  to  preserve  the  check  of  Jefferson's  opinions  in 
the  administration,  in  order  to  keep  things  in  their  proper  channel.16 

Viewed  through  the  atmosphere  of  decades  of  party  history,  the 
position  of  the  Secretary  of  State  in  1793  appears  too  incongruous  to 
be  maintained.  The  policy  of  the  Government  was  strict  neutral- 
ity between  France  and  England.  The  Foreign  Secretary,  by  his 
political  affiliations  and  personal  ties,  sympathized  with  the  French. 
At  the  same  time,  his  antagonist  in  the  Treasury  sympathized  with 
the  English.  Perhaps  Washington  found  the  shades  of  feeling  and 
opinion  in  this  crisis  no  more  divergent  than  Lincoln  felt  them  to 
be  in  the  Civil  War.  But  Jefferson's  position  is  unique  in  American 
history,  in  that  he  was  himself  the  organ  of  a  policy,  to  which  he  was 
emphatically  opposed.  Herein  lies  the  reason  why  his  secretaryship 
is  the  least  distinguished  chapter  in  his  career.  The  rule  of  political 
balance  made  it  impracticable  to  institute  that  other  rule,  very  com- 
monly observed  in  later  times,  of  paying  deference  in  a  Cabinet 
question  to  the  Secretary  whose  Department  is  most  closely  touched. 
Washington  reached  his  decisions  during  this  season  by  Cabinet 
polls,  much  of  the  time  deciding  according  to  the  majority.  Never- 
theless, the  State  Department  held  down  the  Treasury.  And  Jeffer- 
son was  too  derogatory  of  his  own  influence,  when  he  declared  four 
years  afterwards,  apropos  of  the  rumor  that  President  Adams  was 
going  to  summon  the  Vice-President  to  the  Cabinet  councils,  that  he 
could  not  wish  to  see  the  scenes  of  '93  revived,  and  to  descend  daily 
into  the  arena  like  a  gladiator  to  suffer  martyrdom  in  every  conflict. 

Jefferson's  retirement  at  the  close  of  this  year  was  followed  by  the 
promotion  of  Randolph  to  the  State  Department.  A  number  of  men 
had  previously  been  considered,  both  Republicans  and  Federalists." 

"  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  I,  204. 

"Jefferson  states  that  the  following  men  were  mentioned  between  the 
President  and  himself:  Madison,  who  would  have  been  the  President's  first 
choice,  but  was  unwilling  to  accept  office  under  the  Executive,  Chief  Justice 
Jay,  who  preferred  the  post  that  he  already  had,  William  Smith  and  Edward 
Rutledge,  both  of  South  Carolina,  Judge  Thomas  Johnson,  of  Maryland, 
Chancellor  R.  R.  Livingston,  of  New  York,  and  finally  Edmund  Randolph, 
the  Attorney-General.  (Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  I,  257;  Anas,  August 
6,  I793-) 


WASHINGTON.  25 

The  resulting  vacancy  in  the  office  of  Attorney-General  was  filled 
by  the  appointment  of  William  Bradford,  a  young  lawyer  from 
Pennsylvania,  who  was  presumably  Hamilton's  choice.  A  year  later, 
further  reconstruction  was  necessitated  by  the  retirement  of  both 
Hamilton  and  Knox.  Hamilton  named  his  own  successor,  Oliver 
Wolcott,  previously  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury.  A  Secretary  of 
War  was  found  in  Timothy  Pickering,  who  had  at  the  time  a  resi- 
dence in  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Pickering  had  been  a  member  of  the 
old  Board  of  Treasury,  and  had  latterly  become  Postmaster-General. 
And  from  the  War  Office,  he  went  to  the  State  Department.  Whence 
he  bears  the  commonplace  distinction  of  the  most  varied  experience 
in  the  Departments  that  any  man  has  had.18 

In  the  State  Department,  Randolph  showed  himself  a  consistent 
Republican,  with  his  colleagues  all  Federalists  of  one  shade  or 
another.  He  was  at  variance  with  the  administration,  both  on  the 
suppression  of  the  Whiskey  Insurrection,  and  the  ratification  of 
Jay's  Treaty  with  England.  But  there  was  no  plan  to  put  an  end 
to  the  anomaly,  until  the  Secretary  of  State  was  discovered  in  an  in- 
trigue with  the  French  Minister.  In  his  isolated  position,  Randolph 
allowed  himself  to  become  a  party  to  one  of  those  cases  of  diplomatic 
interference  that  held  the  Government,  during  its  first  quarter  of  a 
century,  in  a  sort  of  wardship  to  France  and  England.  At  the  time 
of  the  Whiskey  Insurrection,  he  fell  to  communicating  the  secrets  of 
ihe  administration  to  Minister  Fauchet,  who  made  them  the  subject 
of  despatches  to  his  own  Government,  which  not  only  based  their 
information  upon  "  the  precious  confessions  of  Mr.  Randolph,"  but 
alluded  to  transactions  that  had  involved  "  some  thousands  of 
dollars."  The  papers  were  intercepted  by  a  British  war  vessel, 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  British  Minister  to  the  United  States, 

18  The  War  Department  was  first  offered  to  General  Charles  Cotesworth 
Pinckney,  who  had  declined  an  Associate-Justiceship  in  1791,  and  was  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  country  that  did  not  desire 
office  under  the  National  Government.  Though  expressing  a  preference  for 
the  War  Department  over  all  other  offices,  General  Pinckney  declined  the 
offer,  chiefly  on  personal  grounds.  (Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed., 
X,  391,  392,  with  Footnote.) 


26  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

and  were  communicated  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The 
President,  returning  from  his  vacation  retirement  to  hold  a  Cabinet 
council  on  the  acceptance  of  Jay's  Treaty,  confronted  his  Secretary 
of  State  with  the  suspicious  disclosures,  and  one  day  later,  that 
officer  put  his  resignation  into  the  hands  of  his  chief.  The  affair 
stirred  a  great  storm  of  emotions  in  Washington's  breast." 

The  ensuing  reconstruction  of  the  Cabinet  furnishes,  by  its  ex- 
treme difficulty,  one  of  the  most  striking  proofs  of  the  unpopularity 
that  the  Government  sustained  by  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of 
1795  with  England.  But  the  most  significant  fact  is  the  President's 
decision  that  the  representation  of  different  political  parties  in  the 
Executive  was  insupportable.  He  made  a  distinct  declaration  in  a 
letter  to  his  Secretary  of  War :  "  I  shall  not,  while  I  have  the  honor 
to  administer  the  Government,  bring  a  man  into  office  of  consequence, 
knowingly,  whose  political  tenets  are  adverse  to  the  measures,  which 
the  General  Government  are  pursuing ;  for  this,  in  my  opinion,  would 
be  a  sort  of  political  suicide.  That  it  would  embarrass  its  move- 
ments is  most  certain." '  At  least  one  candidate  that  attracted  the 
President's  favorable  consideration  for  the  State  Department,  Ed- 
mund Pendleton  of  Virginia,  was  dropped,  because  Hamilton 
pointed  out  that  he  was  leaning  too  much  to  the  political  doctrines 
of  Jefferson  and  Madison.  The  vacancy  was  filled  after  a  long  inter- 
val by  the  promotion  of  .the  Secretary  of  War.21 

The  War  Department  was  thus  vacated,  as  was  also  the  Attorney- 
Generalship,  Mr.  Bradford  having  died  in  office.  The  former  was 
accepted  by  James  McHenry  of  Maryland,  and  the  latter  by  Charles 
Lee,  a  young  lawyer  from  Virginia.  The  Cabinet  was  now  an 
entirely  Federalist  body.  And  the  unanimity  of  party  principles 

18  Upham,  Life  of  Timothy  Pickering,  III,  225,  226. 

20  Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  XI,  74;  Washington  to  Pickering, 
September  27,  1795. 

21  The  State  Department  was  offered  successively  to  Judge  Thomas  Johnson 
of  Maryland,  General  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina,  As- 
sociate-Justice William   Patterson   of   New  Jersey,    and    Patrick   Henry   of 
Virginia.     (Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  XI,  78,  81 ;  Washington  to 
Edward  Carrington  and  to  Patrick  Henry.) 


WASHINGTON. 


thus  established  immediately  became  the  fundamental  rule  of  form- 
ing an  administration.22 

22  Before  the  War  Office  found  an  incumbent  on  this  occasion,  it  was  offered 
to  Colonel  Edward  Carrington  of  Virginia,  an  intimate  friend  of  Hamilton's, 
and  to  Governor  John  E.  Howard  of  Maryland.  (Writings  of  Washington, 
Sparks  ed.,  XI,  78,  93,  106.) 

The  Attorney-Generalship  was  first  offered  to  John  Marshall,  who  had  not 
yet  held  office  under  the  National  Government,  and  declined  this  post  on 
the  ground  that  it  would  too  greatly  interfere  with  his  private  practice.  It 
was  then  offered  to  Colonel  Innes,  also  of  Virginia.  (Writings  of  Washing- 
ton, Sparks  ed.,  XI,  62,  with  Footnote.) 


PRESIDENT. 
JOHN  ADAMS,  Massachusetts. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  Virginia. 


March  4,  1797,  to  March  4,  1801. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
TIMOTHY  PICKERING,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
CHARLES  LEE,  of  Virginia    (Attorney-General),  ad  interim,  May   13,   1800. 
JOHN  MARSHALL,  of  Virginia,  May  13,  1800. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

OLIVER  WOLCOTT,  JR.,  of  Connecticut;  continued   from  last  Administration. 
SAMUEL  DEXTER,  of  Massachusetts,  January  i,  1801. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

JAMES  MCHENRY,  of  Maryland;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
BENJAMIN   STODDERT,   of   Maryland    (Secretary  of  the   Navy),   ad  interim, 

May  6,  1800. 

SAMUEL  DEXTER,  of  Massachusetts,  May  13,  1800. 
SAMUEL  DEXTER,  of  Massachusetts  (Secretary  of  the  Treasury),  ad  interim, 

January  I,  1801. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 
CHARLES  LEE,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 
BENJAMIN  STODDERT,  of  Maryland,  May  21,  1798. 


29 


JOHN  ADAMS. 

The  administration  of  John  Adams  is  signalized  by  the  first  testing 
of  the  authority  of  the  President  over  his  official  advisors.  The  in- 
subordination of  the  Secretaries  was  not  a  conscious  attack  upon 
the  Chief  Executive's  office,  but  only  a  part  of  a  quarrel  between 
two  factions  of  Federalists.  And  yet  the  controversy  shows,  in 
many  of  its  details,  that  a  comparatively  humble  place  was  reserved 
for  the  Presidency,  when  Washington  retired  from  his  peculiar  office 
as  sponsor  for  the  Constitution.  And  Adams'  resort  to  powers  as 
yet  unused  was  an  important  step  towards  fixing  the  relation  between 
the  two  parts  of  the  Executive. 

The  new  President  retained  the  Cabinet  of  his  predecessor,  though 
Secretary  Wolcott  is  known  to  have  offered  his  resignation.  The 
existing  procedure  was  also  continued  for  a  time.  The  President 
promptly  called  for  written  opinions  on  a  schedule  of  questions 
concerning  the  state  of  diplomatic  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  France.1  In  preparing  the  Address  to  Congress  for  the 
special  session  of  1797,  he  requested  suggestions  that  were  not  to  be 
confined  to  departmental  matters.  Cabinet  meetings  were  also 
continued. 

The  actual  mastery,  however,  Adams  had  to  dispute  with  Ham- 
ilton, in  the  extra-legal  role  of  party  chief.  The  political  antagonism 
between  the  two  had  been  manifest  from  the  earliest  presidential 
elections.  And  with  Adams  now  elevated  to  that  office,  the  party 
leader  put  aside  the  deference  that  Washington  had  commanded  of 
him.  At  the  same  time  he  retained  the  influence  over  the  Secretaries 
that  he  had  gained  as  a  sort  of  permanent  Minister  to  the  previous 
administration.  Wolcott,  in  the  Treasury,  was  his  echo.  Pickering, 
in  the  State  Department,  was  more  emboldened  by  a  sense  of  long 
experience  in  Executive  office,  which  indeed  antedated  the  Pres- 

1  Gibbs,  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  I,  500. 


32  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

idency.  Moreover,  he  was  like  President  Adams  himself,  in  being 
the  victim  of  a  pugnacious  and  stubborn  disposition. 

In  such  a  delicate  situation,  Mr.  Adams  allowed  concerted  action 
between  President  and  Department  Heads  to  suffer  for  his  absences 
from  the  Capital.  Washington  had  been  accustomed  to  spend  about 
two  months  at  Mt.  Vernon,  during  the  hot  season.  Indeed  the 
important  consultation  over  the  acceptance  of  Jay's  Treaty  was  con- 
ducted almost  entirely  by  correspondence.  And,  when  he  was  at  the 
seat  of  Government,  he  sometimes  authorized  the  Cabinet  to  delib- 
erate without  being  himself  present.  But  Washington,  fortified  by 
loyalty  to  his  person,  had  no  reason  to  fear  cabals.  Notwithstanding 
his  different  situation,  Adams  indulged  himself  in  longer  vacations. 
And,  during  one  of  the  most  critical  periods  in  his  term  of  office,  the 
summer  of  1799,  being  detained  by  illness  in  his  family,  he  was 
absent  from  the  proper  scene  of  his  official  duties  between  seven  and 
eight  months. 

As  the  special  session  of  1797  approached,  the  President's  Con- 
stitutional relation  to  the  subject  of  foreign  affairs  was  made  little 
account  of,  by  former  members  of  the  Government.  Fisher  Ames, 
now  retiring  from  the  House  of  Representatives,  wrote  to  Wolcott, 
urging  that  the  three  Secretaries  should  digest  a  plan  of  action,  and 
be  prompt  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  the  Federalists  in  Congress.2 
And  Hamilton  put  a  matured  scheme  for  a  special  commission  to 
France  into  the  hands  of  certain  Senators.8  The  latter  proceeding 
came  to  Adams'  knowledge;  and,  when  he  published  an  account  of 
his  Cabinet  quarrels  years  afterwards,  he  likened  Hamilton  to  a 
physician,  who  undertook  "  to  prescribe  for  a  President,  Senate,  and 
House  of  Representatives,  all  desperately  sick,  and  in  a  deplorable 
state  of  debility,  without  being  called." 

The  strife  between  Adams  and  his  Cabinet  included  three  distinct 
controversies.  The  first  was  about  the  appointment  of  the  Com- 
missioners that  were  dispatched  to  France  in  1797.*  The  President 

2Gibbs,  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  I,  499;  Ames  to  Wol- 
cott, April  27,  1797. 

3Gibbs,  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  I,  463. 
4  Gibbs,  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  I,  463-470. 


JOHN  ADAMS.  33 

earnestly  desired  to  name  Elbridge  Gerry  of  Massachusetts  as  one 
of  the  number ;  and  the  suggestion  that  the  Commission  include  one 
Republican  with  two  Federalists  was  received  with  so,  much  favor, 
that  the  names  of  both  Madison  and  Vice-President  Jefferson  were 
proposed.  But  of  Gerry,  the  Cabinet  would  not  approve.  The  Presi- 
dent accordingly  nominated  three  Federalists,  Charles  Cotesworth 
Pinckney,  the  Minister  lately  rejected  by  the  French  Government, 
John  Marshall  of  Virginia,  and  Francis  Dana  of  Massachusetts.  But 
Judge  Dana  declined  to  serve;  whereupon  Gerry  was  appointed  in 
his  stead.  Thus  the  President  yielded  at  first ;  but  ultimately  carried 
his  point. 

The  second  controversy  arose  about  the  ranking  of  the  Major- 
Generals  in  the  provisional  army  created  in  I798.6  Washington  had 
been  appointed  Lieutenant-General,  with  the  understanding  that 
he  should  have  a  share  in  the  naming  of  the  other  officers.6  Upon 
receipt  of  his  commission,  the  Lieutenant-General  transmitted  a 
list  of  Major-Generals,  which  included  Alexander  Hamilton,  Charles 
Cotesworth  Pinckney,  and  Henry  Knox,  ranking  in  the  order 
named.  Displeased  at  the  advancement  of  Hamilton  over  two  officers 
who  had  been  his  superiors  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  in  which  mat- 
ter his  objections  had  more  than  a  personal  basis,  since  Knox  ulti- 
mately declined  his  commission,  the  President  sought  a  means  of 
preserving  the  old  order.  The  appointments  were  made  as  arranged ; 
but  the  commissions  were  so  dated  as  to  put  Knox  first,  Pinckney  sec- 
ond, and  Hamilton  third.  Washington  now  interposed.  Charging 
the  President,  in  calm  but  forcible  terms,  with  failure  to  carry  out 
the  agreement  between  them,  he  threatened  to  resign  his  own  com- 
mission. And  Adams  was  compelled  to  reverse  the  order  of  rank 
for  the  Major-Generals.7  Doubtless  Washington  was  actuated  by 
his  old  partiality.  But  the  Secretaries  were  in  his  counsels.  Picker- 

0  Gibbs,  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  II,  99-103. 

6  Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  XI,  Appendix  XI;  Adams  to  Mc- 
Henry,  July  6,  1798.    Also  Adams  to  Washington,  July  7,  1798. 

7  Writings   of  Washington,    Sparks   ed.,   XI,   304 ;   Washington  to   Adams, 
September  23,  1798:  also  Appendix  XIV;  Adams  to  Washington,  October  9, 
1798. 


34  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

ing  had  urged  him  to  secure  the  placing  of  Hamilton  at  the  head  of 
the  list.8  And  McHenry  was  believed  to  have  had  a  hand  in  the  ar- 
rangement, when  he  conveyed  the  Lieutenant-General's  commission 
to  Mt.  Vernon.  It  was  to  the  prestige  of  Washington's  name  that 
the  President  yielded ;  but,  nevertheless,  the  Secretaries  had  a  share 
in  the  triumph  over  him. 

April  30,  1798,  the  Act  was  passed  that  established  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Navy.  Much  difficulty  attended  the  filling  of  the  new 
Secretaryship.  And  Wolcott  wrote  four  weeks  after  its  creation, 
that  the  proper  business  of  the  new  Department  continued  to  be 
divided  between  the  War  Office  and  the  Treasury,  and  was  likely  to 
remain  so.  Ex-Senator  George  Cabot  of  Massachusetts,  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Hamilton  faction,  declined  the  office ;  and  it  was 
finally  accepted  by  Benjamin  Stoddert  of  Maryland,  a  man  engaged 
in  extensive  mercantile  pursuits. 

The  administration  was  next  at  cross  purposes  about  the  second 
attempt  to  resume  diplomatic  relations  with  France.9  June  21,  1798, 
in  a  famous  message  to  Congress,  the  President  had  disclaimed  all 
intention  of  making  another  approach  to  the  French  Government, 
until  certain  assurances  had  been  received  from  it.  But,  December 
8,  in  his  Annual  Address,  he  moderated  that  tone,  and  acted  contrary 
to  the  advice  of  the  Cabinet  in  so  doing.  He  furthermore,  withheld 
his  confidence  from  his  official  advisers,  as  his  new  policy  shaped 
itself.  February  18,  1799,  without  the  previous  knowledge  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  or  any  other  of  the  Cabinet  officers,  he  nominated 
as  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  France,  William  Vans  Murray.  The 
proposed  embassy  being  converted  into  a  second  commission,  the 
names  of  Chief- Justice  Oliver  Ellsworth,  and  Governor  William  R. 
Davie  of  South  Carolina  were  added.  The  President's  appointments 
were  confirmed  in  the  face  of  active  opposition  from  the  Cabinet. 

The  Secretaries  then  proceeded  to  take  advantage  of  the  Presi- 
dent's long  absence  to  devise  plans  for  defeating  his  policy.  And 
they  finally  joined  in  a  written  demand  that  the  Commission  to 

8  Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  XI,  Appendix  XI,  Pickering  to  Wash- 
ington, July  6,  1798. 
'Gibbs,  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  II,  188-272. 


JOHN  ADAMS.  35 

France  be  delayed.10  This  brought  the  administration  together  again, 
the  President  meeting  the  Cabinet,  October  15,  at  Trenton.  Before 
Mr.  Adams'  arrival,  Hamilton  had  been  on  the  scene.  The  President 
refrained  from  declaring  his  own  state  of  mind  at  the  Cabinet  meet- 
ing, for  which  he  was  afterwards  accused  of  misleading  his  advisers. 
He  discussed  the  proposed  instructions  with  them,  and  a  day  later, 
issued  to  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  final 
orders  for  despatching  the  Commission.  Thus  in  the  last  and  most 
aggravated  controversy  of  his  administration,  President  Adams 
carried  his  point.  He  did  not  have  a  united  Cabinet  against  him ;  for 
Stoddert,  the  newest  of  the  Secretaries,  had  not  staunchly  supported 
his  seniors,  and  Attorney-General  Lee,  finding  the  Commission  fav- 
orably regarded  by  the  Virginia  Federalists,  was  of  like  mind. 

Sixjnojnt^J^Lter^jthe .President  completed  the  demonstration  of  his 
supremacjLUn  Executive  affairs  by  hurling  two  of  the  Secretaries 
from  offke._  Such  a  catastrophe  was  not  unthought  of  by  the  Cabinet 
officers  themselves,  crude  as  their  conceptions  were  of  loyalty  to_the 
head  of  the  Executive,  and  safeguarded  as  they  believed  themselves 
to  be  by  the  political  situation.  Pickering  might  well  have  been 
disquieted  about  his  efforts  to  defeat  the  appointments.  He  has 
recorded,  though  as  a  reproach  to  Adams  more  than  to  himself,  that 
in  the  promotion  of  Colonel  Smith,  the  President's  son-in-law,  he 
remonstrated  two  or  three  times  with  his  chief  against  the  nomina- 
tion, and  finding  himself  unable  to  prevent  it,  he  repaired  to  the 
corridor  of  the  Senate  to  secure  votes  against  its  confirmation.  And 
Adams  charges  that  the  Secretary  of  State  had  striven  to  head  off 
his  most  important  measures,  working  particularly  against  the  ap- 
pointments of  Gerry,  Smith,  and  Murray.11  Secretary  Wolcott  had  ex- 
posed himself  to  the  presidential  wrath  particularly  by  acting  as  the 
spokesman  of  the  Cabinet  in  the  affair  of  the  Major-Generals.  The 
Secretary  of  War  expressed  the  opinion,  however,  writing  to  Wash- 
ington after  the  departure  of  the  Commission,  that  it  was  doubtful 
whether  the  President  would  remove  any  of  the  Cabinet ;  that  he  was 
highly  displeased  with  Pickering  and  Wolcott,  and  somewhat  so  with 

10  Gibbs,  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  II,  270. 

11  Gibbs,  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams,  II,  350. 


36  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

McHenry  himself;  but  that  there  were  powerful  personal  reasons 
which  forbade  a  rupture,  especially  at  that  moment.12  And  the  Presi- 
dent did  delay,  until  the  election  of  the  State  Legislatures  had  shaped 
forces  for  the  approaching  presidential  election.  Early  in  May,  1800, 
he  notified  Secretaries  Pickering  and  McHenry,  that  their  resigna- 
tions would  be  accepted.  McHenry  promptly  complied ;  but  Pickering 
expostulated.  The  President  then  sent  an  unvarnished  order  of  dis- 
missal. "  Divers  causes  and  considerations  essential  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Government,  in  my  judgment  requiring  a  change  in  the 
Department  of  State,  you  are  hereby  discharged  from  any  further 
services  as  Secretary  of  State." ' 

In  reconstructing  the  Cabinet,  Adams  found  eminently  respectable 
support.  John  Marshall,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
at  the  time,  declined  the  War  Department,  but  accepted  the  State 
portfolio.  And  Samuel  Dexter,  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  entering 
upon  only  the  second  year  of  a  Senator's  term,  resigned  his  seat  to  be- 
come Secretary  of  War.  But  it  was  impossible  to  fill  vacancies  that 
arose  the  following  winter,  when  a  Republican  administration  was 
only  a  few  weeks  in  the  future.  Secretary  Wolcott,  who  had  been 
spared,  when 'his  allies  were  removed,  presumably  because  of  the 
condition  of  the  Treasury  Department,  and  out  of  deference  to  his 
constituency,  put  the  President  to  great  embarrassment  a  few  months 
later  by  an  untimely  resignation.  Furthermore,  the  Attorney- 
General's  office  was  vacated  by  the  designation  of  Mr.  Lee  to  one 
of  the  newly  created  Circuit- Judgeships.  A  long  list  of  appointees 
refused  to  enter  an  expiring  administration ;  and  the  breaches  had  to 
be  covered  by  ad  interim  service  on  the  part  of  the  other  Cabinet 
officers.  When  Marshall  was  appointed  Chief- Justice  of  the  United 
States,  Dexter,  who  had  charge  of  both  the  Treasury  and  War  De- 
partments, was  authorized  to  act  as  Secretary  of  State  for  the  pur- 
pose of  counter-signing  the  commission. 

It  is  important  to  note  that,  while  the  Cabinet  was  humbled  in  this 
contest,  it  maintained  a  right  to  exist.  The  Secretaries  were  pre- 

12  Writings  of  Washington,  Sparks  ed.,  XI,  Appendix  XXI ;   McHenry  to 
Washington,  November  10,  1799. 
"Upham,  Life  of  Timothy  Pickering,  III,  486. 


ADAMS. 


t 


vented  from  overruling  the  President,  and  were  thereby  relegated  to 
the  under  position  in  the  Executive.  But  the  storm  of  attendant  dis- 
cussion shows,  making  due  allowance  for  the  violence  of  faction,  that 
public  opinion  demanded  for  them  some  sort  of  position.  One  of  the 
most  heated  expressions,  we  quote  from  George  Cabot  of  Massa- 
chusetts :  "  Must  it  not  become  a  maxim,  never  to  be  violated,  that 
e  President  shall  be  always  accompanied  by  those  whom  he  has 
selected  to  assist  him  in  carrying  on  the  Executive  Government  ?  If 
at  any  time,  he  is  absent  for  the  benefit  of  relaxation,  let  it  be  adhered 
to  that  he  does  no  business,  and  gives  no  opinions.  If  some  system 
like  this  is  not  established,  there  will  be  no  order  nor  consistency  in 
our  affairs."  A  more  significant,  because  more  temperate,  statement 
was  made  by  Hamilton :  "  A  President  is  not  bound  to  conform  to 
the  advice  of  his  Ministers.  He  is  even  under  no  positive  injunction 
to  ask  or  require  it.  But  the  Constitution  presumes  that  he  will  con- 
sult them ;  and  the  genius  of  our  Government  and  the  public  good 
recommend  the  practice." r  This  sentiment  had  become  firmly 
established  at  a  very  early  date. 


14  Works  of  Hamilton,  J.  C.  Hamilton  ed.,  VII,  708 ;  The  Public  Conduct  and 
Character  of  John  Adams,  Esq.,  President  of  the  United  States. 


PRESIDENT. 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  Virginia. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
AARON  BURR,  New  York. 


March  4,  1801,  to  March  4,  1805. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
LEVI  LINCOLN,  of  Massachusetts   (Attorney-General),  ad  interim.  March  4, 

1801. 
JAMES  MADISON,  of  Virginia,  March  5,  1801. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

SAMUEL  DEXTER,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
ALBERT  GALLATIN,  of  Pennsylvania,  May  14,  1801. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 
HENRY  DEARBORN,  of  Massachusetts,  March  5,  1801. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 
LEVI  LINCOLN,  of  Massachusetts,  March  5,  1801. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

BENJAMIN  STODDERT,  of  Maryland;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
HENRY  DEARBORN,  of  Massachusetts  (Secretary  of  War),  ad  interim,  April  I, 

1801. 
ROBERT  SMITH,  of  Maryland,  July  15,  1801. 


39 


PRESIDENT. 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  Virginia. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
GEORGE  CLINTON,  New  York 


March  4,  1805,  to  March  4,  1809. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
JAMES  MADISON,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 
ALBERT  GALLATIN,  of  Pennsylvania;   continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

HENRY  DEARBORN,   of  Massachusetts;   continued   from  last   Administration. 
JOHN  SMITH  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  February  17,  1809. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

JOHN  BRECKENRIDGE,  of  Kentucky,  August  7,  1805. 
CAESAR  A.  RODNEY,  of  Pennsylvania,  January  20,  1807. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 
ROBERT  SMITH,  of  Maryland ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 


40 


JEFFERSON. 

In  October,  1799,  when  President  Adams'  change  of  policy 
towards  France  was  widening  the  breach  in  the  Federalist  party, 
Secretary  Pickering  wrote  to  his  friend  Cabot :  "  This  measure  will 

unquestionably  change  the  whole  administration Jefferson 

will  be  President,  Gallatin,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Madison,  Sec- 
retary of  State,  and  two  other  like  political  characters  will  be  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  other  Departments."  This  slate,  or  fragment  of 
one,  proved  to  be  correct. 

The  balloting  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  necessitated  by  the 
fact  that  the  electoral  college  had  made  a  tie  between  Thomas 
Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr,  resulted  in  a  decision  on  February  17, 
1801 ;  and  the  Cabinet  list  was  perfected  within  a  very  few  days, 
with  the  exception  of  a  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  The  Senate  had  been 
summoned  for  immediate  Executive  session  by  the  retiring  President, 
which  was  not  agreeable  to  the  Republicans,  because  of  the  inability 
of  some  of  their  newly  elected  members  to  reach  the  seat  of  Govern- 
ment in  time  to  take  part  in  the  confirmation  of  appointments.  On 
March  5,  however.  President  Jefferson  nominated  James  Madison 
of  Virginia  to  be  Secretary  of  State,  General  Henry  Dearborn  of 
Massachusetts  to  be  Secretary  of  War,  and  Levi  Lincoln  of  the  same 
State  to  be  Attorney-General;  and  all  were  duly  confirmed.  The 
double  representation  of  Massachusetts  in  the  first  Republican  Cab- 
inet was  a  part  of  an  attempt  to  conciliate  the  chief  stronghold  of 
Federalism.  And  a  like  purpose  was  shown  in  the  appointment  of 
Gideon  Granger  of  Connecticut  to  the  Postmaster-Generalship,  a 
stronger  position  politically  than  any  Cabinet  office,  because  of  the 
patronage  that  it  commanded. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Albert  Gallatin  of  Pennsylvania, 
assumed  office  by  vacation  commission,  May  14,  a  precaution  which 
he  himself  urged,  and  which  probably  grew  out  of  the  dislike  he  had 
invited  from  the  Federalists  by  the  surveillance  over  Treasury  opera- 


42  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

tions  that  he  had  assumed  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Madi- 
son himself  delayed  journeying  to  Washington,  until  after  his  ap- 
pointment was  confirmed,  having  for  the  preceding  four  years  pre- 
ferred to  serve  Virginia  rather  than  the  National  Government.  More- 
over, it  was  with  much  delay  and  difficulty  that  a  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  was  secured.  The  Republicans  regarded  the  creation  of  that 
office  as  a  Federalist  extravagance ;  and  it  was  for  several  adminis- 
trations an  undesired  portfolio.  At  the  middle  of  July,  Robert 
Smith,  a  Baltimore  lawyer,  and  a  brother  of  General  Samuel  Smith, 
an  influential  member  of  Congress,  assumed  the  office. 

These  delays  made  it  necessary  for  the  President  to  ask  the  assist- 
ance of  the  retiring  Secretaries.  Dexter  and  Stoddert  were  requested 
to  remain  at  their  posts  for  a  short  time.1  And  Chief  Justice  Mar- 
shall, in  the  same  letter  in  which  he  was  invited  to  administer  the 
oath  of  office  to  the  incoming  President,  was  requested  to  attend  to 
certain  business  in  the  Department  of  State.  To  obviate  technical 
difficulties,  Marshall's  reappointment  was  proposed.2  Nevertheless, 
the  engaging  story  is  told  that  at  midnight,  between  March  3  and  4, 
Levi  Lincoln,  the  prospective  Attorney-General,  put  Marshall  out  of 
the  State  Department,  where  he  had  been  signing  commissions.3 
Certain  it  is  that  on  the  following  day  Lincoln  was  made  Secretary 
of  State  ad  interim. 

When  the  new  Congress  was  organized  for  regular  session,  the 
two  vacation  Secretaries,  Gallatin  and  Smith,  were  duly  nominated 
and  confirmed,  January,  1802.  And  the  ensuing  eight  years  saw  no 
changes  at  the  Cabinet  table,  except  in  the  Attorney-General's  seat. 
This  was  once  vacated  by  resignation  and  once  by  death.4 

1  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  VII,  498. 

2  Writings  of  Jefferson,  ed.,  1854,  IV,  364;  Jefferson  to  Marshall,  March  2, 
1801. 

3  Randolph,  Domestic  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  307. 

4  On  some  lists  of  the  Executive  Officers  of  the  United  States,  two  names 
appear  at  this  point  apparently  without  reason :  viz.,  Jacob  Crowninshield  of 
Massachusetts,    as    Secretary   of   the   Navy,    and   Robert    Smith,   previously 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  as  Attorney-General.    The  explanation  is  as  follows : 
Upon    Levi    Lincoln's    resignation    of    the    Attorney-Generalship,    Secretary 
Smith   requested  to  be  transferred  to  that  post,  and  Jacob  Crowninshield 


JEFFERSON.  43 

Superficially,  the  inauguration  of  the  Republican  regime  gave  new- 
strength  to  the  Cabinet,  in  that  unanimity  was  now  added  to  concerted 
action.  To  Jefferson's  "  strict  construction  "  principles,  the  assembled 
Cabinet  was  a  stumbling  block.  And  yet  the  collegiate  operation  of 
the  Executive  had  attractions  for  him.  Of  the  dispersed  condition 
into  which  Adams  threw  it,  there  is  a  very  pointed  expression  of 
disapproval  by  Jefferson.5  And  he  was  more  than  sustained  in  .these 
ideas  by  his  favored  counsellor,  Gallatin.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  proposed  to  his  chief,  as  a  remedy  for  the  disconcerted 
action  lately  experienced,  that  there  should  be  a  general  conference 
every  week,  and  private  conferences  between  the  President  and  each 
of  the  Secretaries  once  or  twice  a  week,  and  that  the  days  and  hours 
should  be  definitely  fixed.8  Without  adopting  such  a  systematic 
course,  Jefferson  showed  his  ability  in  this  matter,  as  in  others,  to  put 
expediency  before  theories.  There  is  a  very  interesting  passage  in 
a  letter  that  he  wrote  a  year  after  his  retirement.  Speaking  of  the 
two  modes  of  consultation,  separate  and  assembled,  he  says  :  "  I  prac- 
ticed this  last  method,  because  the  harmony  was  so  cordial  among 
us  all,  that  we  never  failed,  by  a  contribution  of  mutual  views  on  the 
subject,  to  form  an  opinion  acceptable  to  the  whole.  I  think  there 
never  was  one  instance  to  the  contrary  in  a  case  of  any  consequence. 
Yet  this  does  in  fact  transform  the  Executive  into  a  Directory,  and  I 
hold  the  other  method  to  be  more  Constitutional."  ' 

But  the  fact  of  real  consequence  to  the  nature  of  the  Cabinet  is 
that  the  Republicans  lopped  off  those  features  that  were  beginnings 
of  Ministerial  Government.  Several  events  disastrous  to  Hamilton's 
purposes,  had  their  fruition  in  the  assumption  of  the  Treasury  port- 
folio by  Gallatin.  The  incumbent  for  the  interval  between  the  two 

was  selected  to  succeed  to  the  Department  that  would  thus  be  vacated.  Both 
were  duly  appointed  and  commissioned.  But  Mr.  Crowninshield  declined; 
whereupon  Robert  Smith  continued  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy  without  re- 
appointment. 

8  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  VIII,  100;  Circular  to  Heads  of  Depart- 
ments, November  6,  1801. 

6  Writings  of  Albert  Gallatin,  I,  59;  Gallatin  to  Jefferson,  November  9,  1801. 

7  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  IX,  273 ;  Jefferson  to  Dr.  Walter  Jones, 
March  5,  1810. 


44  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

great  Secretaries,  Oliver  Wolcott,  was  not  one  to  play  a  Chief  Min- 
ister's part.  But  Gallatin  was  a  man  of  a  Premier's  calibre;  and, 
had  his  views  of  Executive  relations  been  those  of  Hamilton,  with 
whom  he  shared  the  foreign  birth  that  forbade  either  to  be  accepted 
by  his  contemporaries  as  a  real  American,  his  long  incumbency  of  the 
Treasury  Department  must  have  won  some  promise  of  permanence 
for  its  earliest  position.  However,  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  the 
personal  cause  was  not  the  ultimate  one  in  the  rejection  of  Hamilton's 
theories. 

The  provision  for  personal  communication  between  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  and  Congress  had  been  rendered  inoperative  under 
Madison's  leadership  of  the  Lower  House.  And  when  Gallatin  was 
added  to  the  Republican  forces  there,  the  drastic  innovation  was 
made  of  interposing  between  the  House  and  the  Department  a 
Standing  Committee  of  Finance,  avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  keep- 
ing the  Executive  within  the  limits  of  Constitution  and  law,  as  the 
author  of  the  measure  understood  them.8  And  Gallatin  again  ex- 
hibited his  hostility  to  allowing  the  Treasury  any  privileges  with 
Congress,  in  connection  with  the  measure  of  May  10,  providing  for 
a  regular  report  from  that  Department  to  be  laid  before  Congress  at 
the  commencement  of  every  session,  the  original  Treasury  Act  hav- 
ing left  reports  to  be  made  at  the  call  of  Congress.  This  supple- 
mentary measure  originated  with  a  Senate  Committee,  on  which  the 
names  of  Samuel  Dexter  and  other  Federalists  appear.  Whether 
it  was  intended  to  make  an  end  of  investigations  of  the  Treasury, 
by  providing  for  a  great  annual  report,  the  records  do  not  show.  The 
act  was  capable  of  being  executed  favorably  to  an  ambitious  Secre- 
tary. The  opposition  to  this  bill  was  composed  of  Gallatin  and  his 
friend  Wilson  Gary  Nicholas ;  and  the  objection  was  that  it  was  un- 
constitutional.9 There  is  a  pleasant  irony  in  the  fact  that  Gallatin' s 
own  reports  are  the  most  numerous  and  probably  the  most  important 
of  all  that  have  been  submitted  to  Congress  under  this  law. 

Set  over  the  Treasury  himself,  Gallatin  did  not  abandon  his  pre- 
vious views.  The  direct  address  to  Congress,  which  the  laws  re- 

8  See  Chapter,  The  Cabinet  and  Congress. 
Annals  of  Congress,  X,  1799-1801,  709. 


JEFFERSON.  45 

quired  of  him,  called  forth  an  incidental  protest  to  the  President ; 
wherein  he  charged  Hamilton  with  seeking  to  make  the  office  inde- 
pendent of  Executive  control,  and  with  distorting  the  peculiar  lan- 
guage of  the  Treasury  Act  into  an  authority  for  the  voluntary  pre- 
sentation of  plans  of  revenue.10  His  own  style  was  that  of  response 
to  orders,  and  he  sometimes  made  formal  reference  to  the  limitations 
of  his  office.11 

At  the  same  time,  Gallatin  enjoyed  a  primacy  of  a  certain  sort. 
The  President  was  dependent  upon  him  especially,  because  he  was 
not  himself  a  master  of  finance.  Furthermore,  the  original  Republican 
policy  to  reduce  National  expenditure  and  pay  off  the  public  debt, 
conveyed  to  the  Treasury  a  surveillance  over  all  the  Departments. 
More  than  fortunate  in  his  biographer,  Henry  Adams,  Gallatin  has 
probably  been  overdrawn  in  this  character,  or  at  least  sketched  too 
large  in  proportion  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  The  designation  of 
Madison  as  administration  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  after  the 
rupture  with  Burr,  made  an  end  of  the  Vice-Presidential  succession, 
and  gave  the  Secretary  of  State  a  distinction  akin  to  that  of  heredi- 
tary rank.  It  is  in  this  precedent,  we  believe,  that  the  priority  of  the 
State  Department  over  the  others  finds  its  real  beginning.  Nor  is  it 
of  less  interest  that  a  new  form  of  political  strife  was  hereby  intro- 
duced into  the  Cabinet,  which  was  to  rend  Madison's  own  adminis- 
tration asunder  and  banish  harmony  from  that  of  his  successor.  Still 
it  is  not  as  a  Cabinet  officer  that  Madison  is  seen  in  his  full  stature. 
The  great  transactions  appertaining  to  the  State  Department  were 
conducted  at  foreign  capitals ;  and  Jefferson  was  more  disposed  than 
most  Presidents  to  take  a  direct  part  in  the  diplomatic  correspond- 
ence.12 At  the  same  time,  Gallatin's  aptitude  for  foreign  affairs  gave 
him  a  larger  share  of  the  President's  confidence  in  this  field  than  any 
other  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  enjoyed  except  Hamilton.  He 
never  appears  as  a  censor  over  the  Foreign  Secretary's  work;  but 
he  is  unmistakably  conspicuous  in  all  discussions  appertaining  to  it. 

10  Writings  of  Albert  Gallatin,  I,  67;  Gallatin's  Notes  on  President's  Mes- 
sage, November,  1801. 

11  American  State  Papers,  Finance,  II,  246-248;  Report  of  November  7,  1807. 
"  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  I,  423,  et  seq. 


46  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Very  contrary  to  fact,  a  legend  has  grown  up  that  Jefferson  was 
exceedingly  independent  about  asking  for  advice.  And  the  unfor- 
tunate statement  is  finding  its  way,  not  only  into  the  biographies  and 
edited  works  of  men  of  the  period,  but  also  into  treatises  on  the 
American  Government,  that  he  refrained  from  asking  the  opinion 
of  his  Cabinet  about  the  Louisiana  Purchase  and  the  suppression  of 
Monroe  and  Pinkney's  treaty  with  England.18 

The  legend  does  not  at  all  accord  with  circumstances  made  known 
by  Jefferson  himself.  Inasmuch  as  the  American  envoys,  Livingston 
and  Monroe,  closed  with  a  sudden  proposition  from  the  Emperor  to 
dispose  of  Louisiana  Territory,  there  could  be  no  Cabinet  consulta- 
tion about  the  question  in  its  final  form.  But  the  lesser  project  to 
acquire  New  Orleans  was  laid  before  the  Cabinet ;  and  the  same  is 
true  of  the  ratification  of  the  purchase  actually  made.14  Neither 
was  the  Cabinet  ignored  in  the  matter  of  withholding  the  Monroe 
and  Pinkney  treaty  from  the  Senate,  though  the  circumstances  were 
peculiar.  A  month  before  the  final  draft  was  received,  the  President 
took  into  consideration  with  the  whole  Cabinet  despatches  announc- 
ing that  the  two  Ministers  were  about  to  conclude  a  treaty,  wherein 
they  were  likely  to  settle  satisfactorily  the  vexed  points  about  colonial 
commerce,  but  not  to  secure  the  abandonment  of  impressments. 
The  question  was  put,  whether  any  treaty  yielding  the  principle  of 
the  Non-Importation  Act,  and  not  securing  the  vexed  points  about 
American  seamen  should  be  accepted;  and  the  opinion  was  unani- 
mously in  the  negative.  The  further  question  was  raised,  whether 
the  Senate  should  be  consulted,  which  was  also  answered  in  the 
negative.  The  draft  of  the  treaty  arrived  within  a  few  hours  of  the 

18  This  assertion  seems  to  have  its  origin  in  an  article  published  in  1880, 
in  a  leading  magazine.  "  Jefferson,  who  certainly  had  as  much  confidence  in 
his  official  advisers,  among  whom  were  Madison  and  Gallatin,  as  any  other 
President,  did  not  ask,  I  was  assured  by  one  of  its  most  trusted  members, 
the  advice  of  his  Cabinet,  on  perhaps,  the  two  most  important  measures  of  his 
Administration — the  purchase  of  Louisiana  and  the  rejection  of  the 
treaty  concluded  by  Monroe  and  Pinkney  in  1806."  (North  American  Review, 
CXXXI,  394;  W.  B.  Lawrence,  Monarchial  Principle  in  our  Constitution.) 

14  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  I,  298,  Anas,  May  7,  1803 :  ibid.,  299,  July 
16. 


JEFFERSON.  47 

expiration  of  Congress.  And  the  President,  who  was  confined  to 
his  house  by  illness,  was  waited  upon  by  members  to  ask  whether  the 
Senate  was  to  be  summoned  in  special  session.  Without  delaying  to 
call  the  Cabinet  together  for  a  second  consultation,  he  carried  out  the 
decision  already  reached  there.13 

The  correct  notion  about  this  administration  is  that  the  Cabinet 
had  as  large  a  share  in  it  as  a  President,  who  was  well  versed  in  the 
arts  of  government,  could  accord  to  trusted  advisers  and  agents 
without  impairing  his  own  authority. 

15  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  I,  322-323 ;  Anas,  February  2,  1807 :  Henry 
Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  III,  430. 


PRESIDENT. 
JAMES  MADISON,  Virginia. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
GEORGE  CLINTON,  New  York.     (Died  April  20,  1812.) 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
WILLIAM  H.  CRAWFORD,  Georgia. 


March  4,  1809,  to  March  4,  1813. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
ROBERT  SMITH,  of  Maryland,  March  6,  1809. 
JAMES  MONROE,  of  Virginia,  April  2,  1811. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 
ALBERT  GALLATIN,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

JOHN  SMITH  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  EUSTIS,  of  Massachusetts,  March  7,  1809. 
JAMES  MONROE,  of  Virginia  (Secretary  of  State),  ad  interim,  December  14, 

1812. 
JOHN  ARMSTRONG,  of  New  York,  January  13,  1813. 

ATTORNEY- GENERAL. 

CAESAR  A.  RODNEY,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  PINKNEY,  of  Maryland,  December  n,  1811. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

ROBERT  SMITH,  of  Maryland;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
PAUL  HAMILTON,  of  South  Carolina,  March  7,  1809. 
CHARLES  W.  GOLDSBOROUGH  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  January  7,  1813. 
WILLIAM  JONES,  of  Pennsylvania,  January  12,  1813. 


49 


PRESIDENT. 
JAMES  MADISON,  Virginia. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
ELBRIDGE  GERRY,  Massachusetts.     (Died  November  23,  1814.) 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
JOHN  GAILLARD,  South  Carolina. 


March  4,  1813,  to  March  4,  1817. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

JAMES  MONROE,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  MONROE,  of  Virginia  (Secretary  of  War),  ad  interim,  September  30, 

1814. 
JAMES  MONROE,  of  Virginia,  February  28,  1815. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

ALBERT  GALLATIN,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  JONES,  of  Pennsylvania   (Secretary  of  the  Navy),  performed  the 

duties  of  the   Secretary  of  the  Treasury   during  the   absence  of  Mr. 

Gallatin  in  Europe  in  1813. 

GEORGE  W.  CAMPBELL,  of  Tennessee,  February  9,  1814. 
ALEXANDER  J.  DALLAS,  of  Pennsylvania,  October  6,  1814. 
WILLIAM  H.  CRAWFORD,  of  Georgia,  October  22,  1816. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

JOHN  ARMSTRONG,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  MONROE,  of  Virginia  (Secretary  of  State),  ad  interim,  August  31,  1814. 
JAMES  MONROE,  of  Virginia,  September  27,  1814. 

JAMES  MONROE,  of  Virginia  (Secretary  of  State),  ad  interim,  March  I,  1815. 
ALEXANDER  J.   DALLAS,  of   Pennsylvania   (Secretary  of  the  Treasury),  ad 

interim,  March  14,  1815. 

WILLIAM  H.  CRAWFORD,  of  Georgia,  August  I,  1815. 
GEORGE  GRAHAM  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  October  22,  1816. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

WILLIAM  PINKNEY,  of  Maryland ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
RICHARD  RUSH,  of  Pennsylvania,  February  10,  1814. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

WILLIAM  JONES,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
BENJAMIN  HOMANS  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  December  2,  1814. 
BENJAMIN  W.  CROWNINSHIELD,  of  Massachusetts,  December  19,  1814. 

50 


MADISON. 

The  second  Republican  administration  was  as  shifting  and  discord- 
ant as  the  first  had  been  stable  and  harmonious.  The  long  roll  of 
members,  including  many  names  that  are  now  unknown,  and  the  list 
of  prolonged  ad  interim  services  point  to  confusion  and  weakness. 
This  extraordinary  flux  is  to  be  referred  partly  to  the  disasters  of  the 
War  of  1812,  and  partly  to  President  Madison's  proverbial  malleable- 
ness  in  the  hands  of  Congress. 

There  had  been  an  understanding  among  the  chieftains  of  the 
preceding  administration,  that,  upon  Jefferson's  retirement  and 
Madison's  elevation  to  the  Presidency,  Gallatin  should  be  transferred 
from  the  Treasury  to  the  State  Department.1  But,  when  this  plan 
leaked  out,  it  was  so  bitterly  opposed  that  the  new  President  did  not 
dare  to  make  the  nomination.  The  significance  that  was  beginning 
to  be  attached  to  the  State  Department  as  a  stepping  stone  to  the 
Presidency,  coupled  with  Gallatin's  Genevese  birth,  made  his  ad- 
vancement singularly  unpopular.  And  for  other  reasons  than  this, 
the  brilliant  Secretary  had  influential  enemies.  The  Republican  or- 
ganization in  his  own  State  of  Pennsylvania  was  divided  in  its 
attitude  towards  him  ;  while  in  New  York,  he  shared  in  the  animosity 
that  the  several  factions  were  meting  out  to  the  Virginia  Republicans. 

But  the  most  determined  opposition  to  the  proposed  appointment 
was  headed  by  the  brother  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  General 
Samuel  Smith,  who  had  a  strong  enough  following  in  the  Senate  to 
dictate  to  the  President,  and  fixed  upon  the  State  Department  for 
his  own  family.  It  is  said  that  the  Senator  from  Maryland  proposed 
a  compromise  at  one  time,  whereby  Gallatin  might  be  made  Secre- 
tary of  State,  provided  the  brother  in  the  case  were  promoted  to  the 
Treasury ;  but  that  Gallatin  himself  defeated  this  by  saying  that  he 
could  not  undertake  to  carry  on  both  Departments  at  once. 

1  Henry  Adams,  Life  of  Albert  Gallatin,  388. 


52  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

The  issue  was  that  Madison  was  constrained  to  make  a  purely 
ornamental  appointment  at  the  critical  moment  when  there  was  still 
hope  that  skillful  diplomacy  might  avert  war  with  England ;  and 
Robert  Smith  became  the  titular  Secretary  of  State.  The  vacancy 
thereby  created  in  the  Navy  Department  was  filled  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  ex-Governor  Paul  Hamilton  of  South  Carolina.  The  War 
Department  being  also  vacated,  General  Dearborn  resigning  to  be- 
come Collector  of  Customs  at  Boston,  another  new  figure  appeared 
in  the  person  of  Dr.  William  Eustis  of  Massachusetts,  who  had 
derived  such  knowledge  of  military  organization  as  he  possessed 
from  being  a  hospital  surgeon  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  duties  of  the  State  Department,  Madison  himself  continued 
to  discharge,  not  only  doing  the  proper  work  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  in  the  abortive  negotiation  with  the  English  Minister,  Erskine, 
but  even  redrafting  ordinary  correspondence.2 

However,  the  figure-head  Secretary  showed  himself  very  efficient 
in  fomenting  opposition  to  the  administration  in  the  Senate,  and 
especially  to  the  commercial  regulations,  with  which  the  Treasury 
Department  was  concerned.3  Furthermore,  Gallatin  suffered  a  direct 
humiliation  in  the  defeat  of  the  bill  for  rechartering  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  on  which  occasion  his  enemies  in  the  Senate  combined 
with  one  accord  against  him,  and  Vice-President  Clinton  gave  the 
casting  vote.  In  March,  1811,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  offered 
his  resignation.  Finding  himself  directly  confronted  with  the  ques- 
tion whether  to  lose  Gallatin  or  be  rid  of  Smith,  Madison  was 
spurred  up  to  calling  for  the  resignation  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 
though  he  sought  to  sugar-coat  the  dismissal  from  the  Cabinet  with 
the  mission  to  Russia,  this  being  the  earliest  resort  to  a  not  uncommon 
expedient.  The  friction  between  Smith  and  Gallatin  had  called  forth 
some  interesting  remarks  on  Cabinet  relations  from  Jefferson,  who, 
in  his  retirement  at  Monticello,  had  assumed  the  role  of  administra- 
tion sage.  In  one  letter,  the  ex- President  says :  "  The  dissentions 
between  two  members  of  the  Cabinet  are  to  be  lamented.  But  why 

2  Writings  of  James  Madison,  Hunt  ed.,  VIII,  137-149.     Memorandum  to 
Robert  Smith. 

3  Henry  Adams,  Life  of  Albert  Gallatin,  415. 


LJA 

'" 


MADISON.  53 

shoulu- these  force  Mr.  Gallatin  to  withdraw  ?  They  cannot  be  greater 
than  between  Hamilton  and  myself,  and  yet  we  served  together  four 

years  in  that  way The  method  of  separate  consultation, 

practiced  sometimes  in  the  Cabinet,  prevents  disagreeable  collisions."  * 
This  quarrel  was  also  the  occasion  of  the  important  letter  from  Jef- 
ferson to  Dr.  Walter  Jones,  a  member  of  the  Virginia  delegation  in 
Congress,  on  the  relations  and  procedure  in  Washington's  Cabinet, 
that  we  have  quoted  several  times.  Here  again,  "  separate  consulta- 
tion "  is  suggested,  as  being  more  Constitutional  than  Cabinet  meet- 

gs  and  "  better  calculated  too,  to  prevent  collision  and  irritation, 
and  to  cure  it,  or  at  least  to  suppress  its  effects,  when  it  has  already 
taken  place." 6 

Before  Smith's  retirement,  overtures  touching  the  State  Depart- 
ment had  been  made  to  James  Monroe,  who  was  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia at  the  time.6  There  had  been  a  coldness  between  Monroe  and 
the  Jefferson  trio,  which  began  with  the  suppression  of  the  Monroe 
and  Pinkney  treaty  negotiated  with  England  in  1806,  and  had  been 
aggravated  by  the  attempt  on  the  part  of  a  faction  in  Virginia  to 
bring  Monroe  forward  instead  of  Madison  as  Jefferson's  successor 
in  the  Presidency.  However,  a  satisfactory  understanding  was 
reached.  Monroe  became  Secretary  of  State  by  vacation  com- 
mission, April  12,  1811,  being  nominated  to  the  Senate  November 
n,  and  confirmed  on  the  ,25th,  after  investigation  by  a  special  com- 
mittee of  his  accounts  while  Minister  to  Paris. 

Other  Cabinet  changes  followed.  Attorney-General  Rodney  be- 
came disaffected,  because  his  desire  for  appointment  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  was  not  granted.  December  n,  1811, 
he  was  succeeded  by  William  Pinkney,  of  Maryland,  with  whom 
Monroe  had  been  associated  in  his  mission  to  England.  Mr.  Pink- 
ney was  a  brilliant  lawyer,  who  consented  to  divide  his  time  between 
the  duties  of  Attorney-General  at  Washington  and  his  professional 
interests  at  Baltimore.  Changes  also  occurred  in  the  War  and  Navy 

4  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  IX,  269;  Jefferson  to  Joel  Barlow,  January 
24,  1810. 

5  Writings  of  Jefferson,  Ford  ed.,  IX,  273. 

"Writings  of  James  Madison,  Hunt  ed.,  VIII,  136,  Footnote. 


54  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Departments,  where  gross  incompetency  was  reveaiW  sj  i-oon  as 
hostilities  broke  out  between  the  United  States  and  England.  Oi-  e 
plan  that  occurred  to  Madison  was  to  bolster  up  the  War  Department 
by  an  exchange  of  portfolios  between  Eustis  and  Monroe ; 7  but  such 
project  seemed  unfeasible,  and  Monroe  began  his  effective  but  ir- 
regular career  as  War  Minister,  by  taking  charge  of  that  office  .tem- 
porarily, while  Eustis  retired. 

In  May,  1813,  Gallatin  quitted  the  administration,  although  he  was 
legally  the  incumbent  of  the  Treasury  until  February,  1814.  Prefer- 
ring diplomacy  to  war,  Gallatin  had  seized  upon  the  proposition  that 
Russia  should  mediate  between  the  United  States  and  England,  and 
had  asked  to  be  appointed  upon  the  Commission  to  St.  Petersburg. 
His  own  idea  was  to  quit  the  Treasury  permanently.  But  prece- 
dents were  not  lacking  for  sending  high  officers  of  the  Government 
on  foreign  missions,  two  Chief  Justices  having  gone  abroad  on  pro- 
longed diplomatic  errands.  And  the  President  bethought  him  to 
retain  Gallatin  in  the  Cabinet,  by  providing  for  the  Treasury  pro 
tempore,  under  the  existing  law  for  filling  casual  vacancies,  which 
permitted  a  department  temporarily  without  a  head  to  be  taken  in 
charge  by  the  incumbent  of  some  other,  for  an  interval  of  six 
months.  Accordingly,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  assumed  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Treasury  also.  The  vacancy  in  the  former  Department, 
that  had  arisen  in  the  previous  December,  had  been  filled  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  William  Jones,  a  prominent  Philadelphia  vessel 
owner,  who  had,  however,  served  as  a  Naval  Lieutenant,  and 
was  one  of  the  numerous  persons  to  whom  Jefferson  offered  the 
Navy  portfolio  in  1801.  But  the  Senate  demanded  the  nomination 
of  a  permanent  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  before  it  would  confirm 
Gallatin's  appointment  on  the  Commission  to  Russia.  The  matter 
lagged  almost  a  year,  while  the  finances  fell  into  a  notoriously  bad 
condition,  for  which  opprobrium  has  been  heaped  upon  Gallatin, 
Madison,  and  Congress  alike.8  An  offer  was  made  to  Richard  Rush, 
Comptroller  of  .the  Treasury.  Finally  a  feeble  appointment  was 
reached,  by  the  selection  of  George  W.  Campbell,  who  was  a  Senator 

1  Writings  of  Gallatin,  I,  526. 

8  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Rufus  King,  V,  452. 


MADISON.  55 

from  Tennessee,  and  was  brought  into  line  for  the  post  by  a  chair- 
manship of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  in  the  House. 
Madison  would  have  preferred  Alexander  J.  Dallas  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  was  one  of  Gallatin's  friends ;  but  he  did  not  venture  to  nominate 
him.9 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  change  in  the  Treasury,  Pinkney 
resigned  to  devote  himself  to  his  profession;  and  Richard  Rush 
succeeded  to  the  Attorney-Generalship. 

Meanwhile  an  ugly  quarrel  was  seething  between  the  State  and 
War  Departments,  which  both  convicts  President  Madison  of 
feebleness  in  keeping  his  Secretaries  in  their  proper  places,  and 
brings  into  the  high  light  the  special  political  significence  that 
attached  to  Cabinet  office  at  this  period.  The  vacancy  that  had 
arisen  in  the  War  Office  at  the  close  of  the  first  season's  campaigns 
had  been  filled  by  the  appointment  of  John  Armstrong  of  New  York, 
a  newly  made  Brigadier-General  in  the  United  States  army.  Classed 
according  to  the  family  groups  that  had  served  New  York  for  parties, 
General  Armstrong  was  an  important  person,  being  by  his 
family  connections  a  Livingston.  Formerly  a  United  States  Senator, 
and  later  Minister  to  France,  he  now  ranked  with  Governor  Tomp- 
kins  as  a  very  eligible  candidate  for  higher  honors.  His  relations 
with  the  Virginia  Republicans  were  notoriously  bad ;  and  his  talents 
and  high  connections  were  offset  by  a  reputation  for  indolence  and 
underhanded  dealing.  That  he  had  enemies  was  clearly  shown  by 
the  vote  to  confirm  his  appointment,  which  little  more  than  escaped 
being  a  tie.  Madison  sought  to  justify  the  appointment  ten  years 
afterwards  by  saying  that  the  War  portfolio  had  been  refused  in  sev- 
eral quarters ;  and  that  he  yielded  the  objections  against  Armstrong 
to  "a  belief  that  he  possessed,  with  known  talents,  a  degree  of  military 
information  which  might  be  useful,  and  a  hope  that  a  proper  mixture 
of  conciliating  confidence  and  interposing  control  would  render 
objectionable  peculiarities  less  in  practice  than  in  prospect."10  The 
ex- President  could  scarcely  have  admitted,  if  it  were  true,  that  he  had 
been  driven  to  the  selection  of  a  prominent  New  Yorker  for  the 

9  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  VII,  397. 

10  Madison's  Works,  ed.,  ordered  by  Congress  1884,  III,  384. 


56  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

War  Office,  by  Josiah  Quincy's  stinging  assault  upon  the  administra- 
tion, in  the  House  of  Representatives.11  But  the  date  of  Quincy's 
speech,  and  the  stigma  that  it  cast  upon  Monroe's  prominence,  with 
the  date  of  the  Armstrong  appointment,  make  it  a  very  pertinent 
question  whether  such  was  not  the  case. 

The  rival  Secretaries  were  equally  awake  to  the  probability  that 
the  War  would  make  Presidents.  Both  had  been  minor  officers  in 
the  Revolution.  As  Secretary  of  War,  Armstrong  has  been  rated 
as  much  superior  to  any  of  his  predecessors.  But,  Monroe,  with  the 
advantages  of  his  temporary  incumbency,  was  prevented  by  so-called 
patriotism  from  withdrawing  into  his  own  Department.  Armstrong 
proposed  Monroe's  name  for  a  Major-Generalship,  which  the  latter 
would  have  accepted,  on  terms  that  would  place  him  in  the  highest 
command.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  Armstrong's  failure  to  recom- 
mend the  creation  of  any  rank  competent  to  a  general  command  in 
the  field  was  taken  to  mean  that  he  was  reserving  that  position  for 
himself,  and  was  intending  to  establish  the  War  Department  at  the 
centre  of  military  operations. 

The  President  now  permitted  his  Secretary  of  State  to  advise  him 
as  to  what  should  be  done  at  the  War  Office.  Shortly  after  Arm- 
strong's assumption  of  his  duties,  Monroe  addressed  a  letter  to 
Madison,  in  which  he  reported  the  ambitions  that  were  imputed  to 
his  colleague,  and  entered  into  a  curious  Constitutional  argument 
againts  the  combination  of  a  military  command  with  the  Secretary- 
ship of  War,  not  failing  to  put  himself  at  the  President's  service 
either  for  a  command  or  for  the  Department.  When  the  season's 
campaigns  were  over,  he  wrote  again  in  the  same  spirit,  this  time 
urging  Armstrong's  removal.12 

The  end  came  with  the  burning  of  Washington,  when  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  incurred  the  charge  of  neglect  of  duty.  That  Armstrong 
had  really  become  negligent  is  hardly  proven  by  his  adherence  to  the 
decisions  reached  at  the  Cabinet  meetings  on  the  question  of  defend- 
ing the  District  of  Columbia.  It  is  a  curious  fact  too  that  the  Presi- 

11  See  infra. 

12  Writings  of  James  Monroe,  V,  244-250;  Monroe  to  Madison,  December  27, 
1813. 


MADISON. 

lent  had  charged  him  with  exceeding  his  authority  as  Head  of  the 
War  Department,  and  had  even  provided  a  schedule  of  directions 
for  reporting  his  acts  to  his  chief.13  But  certain  it  is  that  the  panic 
stricken  people  of  the  District  blamed  the  Secretary  of  War.1*  There 
was  a  report  too,  afterwards  published  in  justification  of  Monroe's 
conduct,  that  the  militia  at  Georgetown  revolted,  and  made  a  demand 
that  the  defence  of  the  District  be  taken  away  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment.15 But  Armstrong's  friends  sought  to  disprove  this  as  a  fabri- 
cation in  the  interest  of  the  Secretary  of  State."  On  repairing  to 
Washington,  the  President  was  seized  with  an  inspiration  to  dismiss 
or  humiliate  the  Secretary  of  War ;  and  approached  that  officer,  who 
arrived  a  little  later  with  suggestions  that  he  take  a  vacation,  or  part 
with  a  portion  of  his  authority ;  and  a  full  resignation  was  the  result. 

Henry  Adams,  the  masterly  historian  of  this  period,  says  of  this 
denouement :  "  Between  conscious  intrigue  and  unconscious  instinct 
no  clear  line  of  division  was  ever  drawn.  Monroe,  by  the  one  method 
or  the  other,  gained  his  point,  and  drove  Armstrong  from  the  Cab- 
inet; but  the  suspicion  that  he  had  intrigued  for  that  object  troubled 
his  mind  to  the  day  of  his  death." :  Federalist  criticism  was  to  the 
effect  that  Armstrong  had  been  supplanted,  in  like  manner  as  it 
decreed  that  Gallatin  had  deserted.18 

Monroe  was  at  once  made  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim;  but  not 
until  six  weeks  afterwards,  when  he  himself  urged  it  upon  Madison, 
did  he  succeed  to  the  office  by  full  commission.19  Furthermore,  the 
President  offered  the  State  portfolio  to  Governor  Daniel  D.  Tomp- 
kins  of  New  York,  as  if  to  show  that  he  was  not  reserving  a  mo- 
nopoly of  political  advantage  for  the  latest  "  favored  son "  of 
Virginia.  Tompkins  declined,  however,  both  because  his  State 
needed  his  services,  and  the  experience  of  Northern  men  in  Virginia 
Cabinets  had  not  been  such  as  to  encourage  those  with  high  am- 

13  Writings  of  James  Madison,  Hunt  ed.,  VIII,  286. 

"Margaret  Bayard  Smith,  Forty  Years  of  Washington  Society,  115. 

15  T.  L.  McKenney,  Memoirs. 

16  Kosciusko' Armstrong,  Review  of  McKinney's  Narrative,  etc. 

17  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  VIII,  161. 
"Life  and  Correspondence  of  Rufus  King,  V,  448. 

18  Writings  of  James  Monroe,  V,  293. 


58  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

bitions.80  Like  other  men  from  his  State,  who  were  out  of  joint  with 
the  Virginia  rule,  he  accepted  the  Vice-Presidency  a  little  later.  The 
Cabinet  vacancies  were  adjusted  by  permitting  Monroe  to  fill  two 
places,  until  the  close  of  the  War.  In  February,  1815,  he  returned  to 
the  State  Department  by  regular  appointment.  But  he  afterwards 
averred  that  it  was  his  service  in  the  War  Office,  rather  than  his 
Secretaryship  of  State,  that  made  him  President.21 

The  Executive  continued  in  a  state  of  upheaval  to  the  end  of 
Madison's  administration.  In  December,  1814,  Secretary  Jones  of 
the  Navy  had  resigned,  Benjamin  Crowninshield  of  Massachusetts 
accepting  the  post.  But  a  more  conspicuous  change  had  occurred  in 
the  Treasury.  George  W.  Campbell  had  retired,  after  showing 
himself  powerless  to  extricate  the  Department  from  the  confusion 
into  which  it  had  fallen;  and  the  dropping  out  of  two  or  three  of 
the  President's  enemies  from  the  Senate  had  made  possible  the 
appointment  of  Alexander  J.  Dallas.  However,  this  able  lawyer 
entered  the  administration  for  only  a  short  time ;  for.  in  the  spring 
of  1816,  he  expressed  a  wish  to  resume  his  profession,  and  set  the 
operation  of  the  act  to  re-charter  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  as 
the  limit  of  his  service  in  the  Treasury.  Dallas  had  also  taken  his 
turn  at  the  War  Department;  for  after  Monroe's  final  withdrawal, 
a  temporary  incumbency  was  imposed  upon  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  giving  into  his  hands  the  reduction  of  the  army  to  a  peace 
footing. 

Both  Departments  were  in  a  broken  up  condition,  during  the  last 
year  of  Madison's  presidency.  Simultaneously  with  Monroe's 
resumption  of  the  State  portfolio,  General  Henry  Dearborn  had  been 
nominated  to  be  Secretary  of  War.  He  had  held  the  same  office  in 
the  Jefferson  Cabinet;  but  military  jealousies  entailed  by  the  War 
with  England  threatened  an  adverse  vote  in  the  Senate;  which  was 
forestalled  by  the  withdrawal  of  Dearborn's  name,  and  the  substi- 
tution of  that  of  William  H.  Crawford  of  Georgia.  This  was  the 
introduction  of  a  very  important  figure  into  the  Cabinet.  Crawford 
had  been  President  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  after  the  death  of 

20  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  VIII,  163. 

21  Writings  of  James  Monroe,  VI,  3. 


MADISON. 

Vice-President  Clinton.  And  he  had  been  conspicuous  in  that  body 
as  the  supporter  of  administration  measures.  He  was  one  of  those 
who  declined  the  War  Department,  prior  to  the  appointment  of 
General  Armstrong.  Like  Gallatin,  he  had  been  attracted  to  diplom- 
acy; and,  shortly  after  the  latter  was  despatched  to  Russia,  he  had 
left  the  Senate  to  become  Minister  to  France.  In  1815,  however, 
he  accepted  the  War  Department,  entering  upon  its  duties  some 
months  after  he  was  appointed.  And  a  year  later,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Treasury.  Pending  the  retirement  of  Dallas,  Madison 
sought  to  recall  Gallatin;  but  the  former  Minister  of  Finance  pre- 
ferred a  diplomatic  appointment  to  the  Cabinet  portfolio  that  he  had 
held  so  long.  Presumably  Gallatin  was  not  eager  to  enter  the 
service  of  Monroe;  whose  nomination  for  the  Presidency  by  Con- 
gressional caucus  had  already  determined  his  election.  Monroe  had 
not  been  taken  into  full  fellowship  by  the  original  group  of  Republi- 
can chiefs.  As  a  representative  of  the  Gallatin-Dallas  tradition, 
Crawford  was  next  in  line.  But,  he  himself  was  not  enthusiastic 
for  the  transfer.  He  was  also  known  to  be  cherishing  the  highest 
ambitions ;  yet  the  War  Department  seemed  to  satisfy  him  better  than 
the  Treasury,  whether  by  reason  of  individual  preference,  or  for  the 
prestige  that  had  lately  made  it  the  bone  of  contention  in  the  Execu- 
tive. According  to  his  own  account,  he  consented  to  take  the  Treas- 
ury, in  order  to  make  it  possible  for  the  President  to  call  Henry  Clay 
into  the  Cabinet.22  However,  the  War  Office  was  less  attractive  to 
the  rising  statesman  from  the  South-West  than  were  his  prospects 
in  Congress.  And  after  being  declined  also  by  William  Lowndes  of 
South  Carolina,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  chief  clerk  of  the  Depart- 
ment for  a  long  interval. 

A  contemporary  epitome  of  the  first  two  Republican  administra- 
tions is  found  in  a  speech  by  Josiah  Quincy,  delivered  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  January  5,  1813,  and  very  famous  in  its  time. 
It  is  not  a  true  representation  of  the  workings  of  the  Executive — 
the  unpopularity  of  the  War  in  New  England  made  that  unlikely — ; 
but  it  is  very  valuable  to  the  present  investigation,  because  it  shows 

82  Writings  of  Albert  Gallatin,  II,  11-14;  Crawford  to  Gallatin,  October  9, 
1816. 


60  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

the  wisdom  of  certain  changes  that  soon  came  about.  Speaking 
to  a  bill  to  provide  for  the  raising  of  troops  for  the  invasion  of 
Canada,  the  member  from  Boston  said :  "  It  is  a  curious  fact,  but 
no  less  true  than  curious,  that  for  these  twelve  years  past  the  whole 
affairs  of  this  country  have  been  managed,  and  its  fortunes  reversed, 
under  the  influence  of  a  Cabinet  little  less  than  despotic,  composed, 
to  all  efficient  purposes,  of  two  Virginians  and  a  foreigner —  — . 

"  I  might  have  said,  perhaps,  with  more  strict  propriety,  that  it 
was  a  Cabinet  composed  of  three  Virginians  and  a  foreigner,  because 
once  in  the  course  of  the  twelve  years  there  has  been  a  change  of 
one  of  the  characters.  But,  sir,  that  change  was  notoriously  matter 
of  form  rather  than  substance. 

"  I  said  that  this  Cabinet  had  been,  during  these  twelve  years, 
little  less  than  despotic.  This  fact  also  is  notorious.  During  this 
whole  period  the  measures  distinctly  recommended  have  been  adopted 
by  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  with  as  much  uniformity  and  with 
as  little  modification,  too,  as  the  measures  of  the  British  Ministry 
have  been  adopted  during  the  same  period  by  the  British  Parliament. 
The  connection  between  Cabinet  councils  and  Parliament  acts  is 
just  as  intimate  in  the  one  country  as  in  the  other. 

"  I  said  that  these  three  men  constituted,  to  all  efficient  purposes, 
the  whole  Cabinet.  This  also  is  notorious.  It  is  true  that  during 
this  period  other  individuals  have  been  called  into  the  Cabinet.  But 
they  were  all  of  them  comparatively  minor  men,  such  as  had  no 
great  weight  either  of  personal  talents  or  of  personal  influence  to 
support  them.  They  were  kept  as  instruments  of  the  master 
spirits ;  and  when  they  failed  to  answer  the  purpose,  or  became 
restive,  they  were  sacrificed  or  provided  for.  The  shades  were  made 
to  play  upon  the  curtain ;  they  entered ;  they  bowed  to  the  audience ; 
they  did  what  they  were  bidden ;  they  said  what  was  set  down  for 
them.  When  those  who  pulled  the  wires  saw  fit,  they  passed  away.  No 
man  knew  why  they  entered ;  no  man  knew  why  they  departed ;  no 
man  asked  whither  they  were  gone."  ! 

The  aphorism  of  the  "  two  Virginians  and  a  foreigner,"  or  better 
"  three  Virginians  and  a  foreigner,"  echoing  the  jealousy  that  had 

23  Speeches  of  Josiah  Quincy,  II,  397-399. 


MADISON.  61 

been  muttered  since  Jefferson  broke  with  Burr,  and  had  been  espec- 
ially outspoken  when  the  State  portfolio  returned  to  Virginia,  after 
the  Robert  Smith  episode,  shows  that  the  hour  was  ripe  for  the 
new  Cabinet  geography  that  Monroe  himself  introduced  on  becoming 
President.  Furthermore,  the  representation  of  an  inner  Executive, 
composed  of  the  President  and  the  two  ranking  Secretaries,  is  very 
applicable  to  the  Jefferson  and  Madison  administrations  throughout, 
except  for  one  or  two  weak  places  in  the  two  foremost  Departments. 
But  the  shifting  of  the  lower  end  of  the  Cabinet,  so  graphically 
described,  had  a  deeper  cause  than  any  connivance  to  keep  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  hands  of  a  triumvirate.  Time  and  again,  every  one 
of  the  three  portfolios  had  been  a-begging  for  an  incumbent;  and 
they  offered  neither  sufficient  rank  nor  emolument  to  retain  men 
of  ability,  if  such  were  once  secured.  It  was  for  the  War  to  teach 
the  necessity  for  improving  the  condition  of  those  offices.  Neither 
did  the  influence  of  the  Cabinet  upon  legislation  bear  out  the  com- 
parison with  the  British  Ministry.  Quincy  had  been  made  unduly 
eloquent  by  the  connection  that  he  perceived  between  the  Committee 
on  Military  Affairs  and  the  War  Office,  where  Monroe's  temporary 
incumbency  caused  him  to  stigmatize  that  gentleman  as  "  one  third 
of  the  Executive."  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  first  years  of  the 
Republican  regime,  when  Jefferson  assisted  by  Madison  and  Gal- 
latin,  was  successfully  maintaining  his  policy  of  neutrality,  had  been 
a  season  of  more  than  ordinary  Executive  influence  in  Congress. 


PRESIDENT. 
JAMES  MONROE,  Virginia. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
DANIEL  D.  TOMPKINS,  New  York. 


March  4,  1817,  to  March  4,  1821. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

JOHN  GRAHAM  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1817. 
JOHN  Q.  ADAMS,  of  Massachusetts,  March  5,  1817. 

RICHARD  RUSH,  of  Pennsylvania  (Attorney-General),  ad  interim,  March  10, 
1817. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

WILLIAM  H.  CRAWFORD,  of  Georgia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  H.  CRAWFORD,  of  Georgia;  recommissioned  March  5,  1817. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

GEORGE  GRAHAM  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1817. 
JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  of  South  Carolina,  October  8,  1817. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 

RICHARD  RUSH,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  WIRT,  of  Virginia,  November  13,  1817. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

BENJAMIN  W.  CROWNINSHIELD,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  last  Ad- 
ministration. 

JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  of  South  Carolina  (Secretary  of  War),  ad  interim, 
October  I,  1818. 

SMITH  THOMPSON,  of  New  York,  November  9,  1818. 


PRESIDENT. 
JAMES  MONROE,  Virginia. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
DANIEL  D.  TOMPKINS,  New  York. 


March  5,  1821,  to  March  4,  1825. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
JOHN  Q.  ADAMS,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 
WILLIAM  H.   CRAWFORD,  of  Georgia;   continued   from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 
JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  of  South  Carolina;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 
WILLIAM  WIRT,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

SMITH  THOMPSON,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  RODGERS  (Commodore,  U.  S.  NM  and  President  of  the  Board  of  Navy 

Commissioners),  ad  interim,  September  I,  1823. 
SAMUEL  L.  SOUTHARD,  of  New  Jersey,  September  16,  1823. 


64 


MONROE. 

The  merging  of  Republicans  and  Federalists  into  one  body,  pre- 
ratory  to  a  new  division  upon  new  issues,  made  the  single  party 
rule  of  small  account  in  the  arrangement  of  the  Monroe  Cabinet. 
For  a  little  while,  men  sat  together  at  the  council  board  who  not 
only  differed  in  their  political  antecedents,  but  were  to  be  con- 
spicuously opposed  in  their  political  allegiance  in  the  future.  At  the 
same  time  the  geographical  code  began  to  be  affected  by  a  conscious- 
ness that  a  new  section  of  the  country  was  becoming  sufficiently 
developed  to  claim  recognition  in  the  Executive  councils.  Monroe 
was  the  first  President  who  expressed  a  desire  to  represent  in  the 
Cabinet  the  four  great  quarters  of  the  United  States,  North,  Middle. 
South  and  West.  "The  West"  is  a  term  that  has  constantly 
changed  its  meaning;  and  in  the  Cabinet  talk  of  i8i6-'i7,  it  re- 
ferred only  to  the  old  South-West,  which  had  given  to  the  country 
Henry  Clay  and  Andrew  Jackson.  Madison's  offer  of  the  War 
Department  to  Clay  had  been  in  line  with  the  purpose  more  distinctly 
avowed  by  his  successor.1 

In  selecting  his  Secretary  of  State,  Monroe  was  deeply  sensible 
of  the  impression  that  had  been  made  upon  the  public  mind  by  the 
repeated  elevation  of  that  officer  to  the  Presidency.  And  he  was 
persuaded  that  the  State  portfolio  must  not  only  be  taken  away  from 
Virginia,  but  that  it  must  now  be  awarded  to  the  North-East,  other- 
wise, his  administration  would  have  to  look  for  its  whole  support 
south  of  the  Potomac.2  Several  important  consequences  are  traceable 
to  this  decision.  By  preventing  the  appointment  of  Clay,  who  would 
have  accepted  the  State  portfolio,  though  he  had  lately  declined  the 
War  Office,  it  had  an  effect  upon  the  development  of  the  Speakership. 
It  checked  the  advancement  of  Crawford,  who  had  lately  been  put 

1  Writings  of  James  Monroe,  V,  347 ;  Monroe  to  Jackson,  December  14,  1816. 
3  Writings  of  James  Monroe,  VI,  3 ;  Monroe  to  Jefferson,  February  25,  1817. 
5  65 


66  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

over  the  Treasury,  and  was  favored  by  the  older  Republican  chiefs 
for  the  State  Department.3  And  finally  it  was  the  occasion  of  recall- 
ing John  Quincy  Adams  from  the  diplomatic  service  and  bringing 
him  into  line  for  the  Presidency.  For,  with  the  geographical  limits 
fixed  in  favor  of  the  North-East,  Mr.  Adams  stood  far  above  all 
other  candidates  both  by  his  diplomatic  talents  and  his  experience  of 
foreign  affairs. 

The  delay  that  attended  the  completion  of  this  Cabinet  seems  to 
indicate  that  the  Executive  counsels  were  not  pressing,  and  that 
Departmental  business  jogged  at  an  easy  gait,  as  peace  and  "  good 
feeling  "  possessed  the  country.  The  new  President  devoted  three 
and  a  half  months  to  one  of  his  progresses,  before  he  knew  who  were 
to  sit  at  his  council  table.  The  day  following  his  inauguration,  he  had 
nominated  John  Quincy  Adams  to  be  Secretary  of  State,  William  H. 
Crawford  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  Colonel  Isaac  Shelby, 
ex-Governor  of  Kentucky,  to  be  Secretary  of  War.4 

The  prospective  Secretary  of  State,  however,  had  yet  to  return 
from  England;  and  Colonel  Shelby  declined  the  War  portfolio  be- 
cause of  his  advanced  years.  Moreover,  the  appointment  of  Richard 
Rush  to  succeed  Adams  vacated  the  Attorney-Generalship.  The  War 
Department  thus  continued,  where  Madison  had  left  it,  in  the  hands 
of  its  chief  clerk,  while  the  retiring  Attorney-General  supplied  both 
the  place  that  he  was  vacating  and  that  of  the  Secretary  of  State.5 
Failing  to  find  a  Secretary  of  War  in  the  South- West, — and  Andrew 
Jackson,  as  well  as  Clay  and  Shelby  declined  the  post, — the  President 

3  Writings  of  Albert  Gallatin,  II,  24;  Crawford  to  Gallatin,  March  12,  1817. 

*  Although  Crawford  was  actually  transferred  from  the  War  to  the  Treas- 
ury Department,  on  October  22,  1816,  it  was  by  means  of  a  vacation  corn- 
mission  and  he  requested  the  President  not  to  send  his  nomination  to  the 
Senate,  until  certain  difficulties  which  stood  in  the  way  of  his  accepting  the 
office  permanently  should  be  removed.     As  this  was  only  accomplished  on 
March  3,  1817,  the  last  day  of  Madison's  administration,  by  the  passage  of 
an  act  relating  to  the  internal  organization  of  the  Departments,  the  regular 
session  expired  without  submitting  the  appointment  to  the  Senate.     Thus  it 
was  on  March  5,  1817,  that  Crawford  was  appointed  to  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment in  the  regular  way.     For  the  single  day  of  March  4,  he  held  the  office 
without  legal  authority. 

*  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  IV,  15. 


MONROE.  67 

finally  settled  upon  John  C.  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina.  During  his 
own  incumbency  of  the  State  and  War  Departments,  he  had  been 
deeply  impressed  with  Calhoun's  services  on  important  committees 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.6  The  Attorney-Generalship  was 
finally  accepted  by  William  Wirt,  of  Virginia,  a  prominent  lawyer 
who  had  figured  in  the  trial  of  Aaron  Burr. 

This  Cabinet  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  ones  in  the  history  of  the 
Government.  Not  only  were  the  State  and  Treasury  Departments 
ably  filled,  but  the  War  portfolio  was  in  the  hands  of  a  young  states- 
man of  a  high  order  of  ability.  Furthermore,  the  Attorney-General, 
if  not  a  more  brilliant  lawyer  than  some  of  his  predecessors,  lent 
greater  prestige  to  his  office  by  his  long  tenure  and  his  more  regular 
connection  with  the  administration.  Hitherto  the  Attorneys-General 
had  spent  much  of  their  time  away  from  the  seat  of  Government 
attending  to  private  practice.  But  in  his  Eighth  Annual  Message 
to  Congress,  President  Madison  recommended  that  a  more  suitable 
provision  be  made  for  that  officer  with  reference  to  his  settled  resi- 
dence at  the  National  Capital.7  A  previous  suggestion  that  fixed  resi- 
dence be  required  had  made  William  Pinkney  resign  from  the  Cabinet 
in  i8i4.8  Before  Wirt's  appointment,  a  measure  of  this  character 
was  passed  by  Congress.9  The  Navy  was  a  comparatively  weak  spot 
in  the  administration;  and  had  three  different  incumbents. 

The  organization  of  the  Navy  Department  was  a  vexed  question. 
After  the  War  of  1812,  a  Board  of  Commissioners  consisting  of 
three  naval  officers,  was  established  within  the  Department,  to  dis- 
charge its  ministerial  duties  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary. 
Thereafter,  it  was  President  Madison's  opinion  that  the  Department 
ought  to  be  abolished,  and  its  duties  assigned  to  the  President  of  the 
Board  of  Commissioners.  Monroe,  however,  was  strongly  in  favor 
of  retaining  the  Secretaryship.10  The  question  came  up,  probably  in 

'Writings  of  James  Monroe,  VII,  136;  Monroe  to  Calhoun,  December  16, 
1827. 

7  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  I,  577. 

8  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  VII,  398. 
"Kennedy,  Life  of  William  Wirt,  II,  54. 

10  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  IV,  133,  310. 


68  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

consequence  of  the  War,  of  making  the  four  Departments  equal,  so 
far  as  salaries  were  concerned;  but  the  low  estimate  of  Secretary 
Crowninshield's  ability,  and  the  fact  that  he  lived  at  a  boarding  house 
and  quitted  Washington  as  soon  as  Congress  adjourned,  sufficed  to 
defeat  a  bill  for  that  purpose  that  was  brought  up  in  1818,  though 
in  Feburary  1819,  such  a  measure  was  carried. 

The  thing  that  gives  the  Monroe  Cabinet  its  most  distinctive 
character  is  the  dissension  within  it  that  arose  from  rival  aspirations 
to  the  Presidency.  Adams  immediately  became  conscious  of  the 
place  in  the  succession  which  the  traditions  of  his  office  accorded  to 
him.  Crawford  had  ventured  to  dispute  the  nomination  with  Monroe 
in  1816,  and  showed  in  .the  Congressional  caucus  54  votes  against  65 
of  his  superior.  Though  disappointed  of  promotion  to  the  State  De- 
partment, he  did  not  lack  means  to  further  his  candidacy  in  the  Treas- 
ury. Moreover,  Calhoun  was  assured  of  the  support  of  several 
important  States.  The  Adams  Memoirs  give  a  lively  account  of  the 
ways  of  making  Presidents,  when  the  Congressional  caucus  was  the 
nominating  body ;  but  it  is  over-colored  by  the  author's  suspicions. 

It  was  after  Monroe's  reelection  in  1820  that  the  various  devices 
for  cultivating  Congressional  favor  became  most  definitely  directed  ; 
for  all  of  the  Secretaries  seem  to  have  respected  their  chief's  pre- 
sumptive right  to  a  second  term  of  office.  These  Cabinet  rivalries 
had  a  bad  effect  upon  the  despatching  of  public  business,  and  the 
more  so,  that  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  was  also 
a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  Both  Clay  and  Crawford  carried 
their  jealousy  of  Adams  so  far  as  to  seriously  embarrass  the  difficult 
negotiations  between  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Spanish  Min- 
ister in  1819."  In  the  spring  of  1822,  Adams  declared  that  the  clos- 
ing Congressional  session  had  been  little  more  than  a  violent  struggle 
between  the  Crawford  and  Calhoun  factions  in  Congress ;  that  each 
had  formed  a  cabal  within  that  body;  and  that  both  were  counte- 
nancing insidious  attacks  upon  the  Secretary  of  State.32 

Monroe  appears  to  have  accepted  presidential  wire-pulling  as  a 
necessary  incident  of  Cabinets.  He  treated  the  rival  aspirants  with 

11  Morse,  John  Quincy  Adams,  113. 

12  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  V,  490-514. 


MONROE.  69 

painful  impartiality,  declining  to  honor  with  his  presence  a  ball  given 
to  General  Jackson,  at  the  Secretary  of  State's,  on  the  anniversary  of 
New  Orleans,  and  refusing,  on  a  summer  vacation  in  Virginia,  to 
visit  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  lay  ill  at  the  Governor's 
house.  In  dispensing  the  patronage  he  aimed  to  give  each  Secretary 
the  control  of  the  appointments  within  his  own  Department ;  and  he 
had  all  presidential  appointments  discussed  in  Cabinet  meeting.13 

If  Monroe  was  informed  of  Jefferson's  suggestion  that  separate 
consultation  was  a  good  way  to  prevent  friction  in  the  administration 
councils,  he  did  not  act  upon  it.  Although  no  "  Cabinet  day  "  was 
observed,  meetings  were  held  under  ordinary  circumstances,  at  inter- 
vals of  little  more  than  a  week.  The  most  exciting  consultation  of 
the  administration,  and  one  that  had  strange  results  in  making 
enemies  of  Calhoun  and  Jackson,  when  its  secrecy  was  violated 
twelve  years  later,  related  to  General  Jackson's  conduct  in  prosecut- 
ing the  Seminole  War  on  Spanish  soil  in  1818.  The  question  whether 
the  Government  should  sustain  the  General's  high-handed  proceed- 
ings was  the  occasion  of  six  Cabinet  sessions,  which  were  interrupted 
by  but  a  single  day."  On  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  other  Con- 
stitutional questions,  written  opinions  were  taken.15  It  is  also  an  in- 
teresting detail  that  the  President's  custom  of  repairing  with  his 
Cabinet  to  the  Capitol,  on  the  last  night  of  the  session,  to  read  and 
sign  bills,  is  recorded  for  the  first  time  of  this  administration. 

A  peculiar  interest  attaches  to  the  relations  between  Monroe  and 
Adams;  since  there  is  much  to  support  the  view  that  the  Secretary 
had  a  larger  share  than  the  President  in  the  great  achievements  in 
the  field  of  foreign  affairs.  The  two  did  not  come  into  conflict  on 
any  very  large  question ;  but  there  was  abundant  friction  in  small 
matters.  Monroe  preserved  the  forms  of  subordination  with  a  good 
deal  of  stringency;  and  if  Adams  entertained  a  contrary  opinion, 
he  yielded  it,  after  he  had  upheld  his  side  of  the  case  in  argument. 
But  he  had  private  chafings,  which  he  confided  to  his  Diary.  "  This 

13  Fish,  The  Civil  Service  and  the  Patronage,  70. 
"Memoirs  of  John  Qnincy  Adams,  IV,  107-116. 

"Clayton  MSS.,  Benton  to  Clayton,  July  16,  1855;  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  VI,  34. 


70  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

sifting  and  revising  of  every  important  paper  that  I  write  is  not 
flattering  nor  very  agreeable,"  he  wrote  in  the  autumn  of  1819, 
apropos  of  a  despatch  to  the  Minister  at  Madrid.  Again  he  shows 
himself  and  Monroe  in  a  heated  dialogue  concerning  the  reply  to  a 
call  by  Congress  for  diplomatic  papers  in  the  spring  of  1822,  the 
President  reminding  the  Secretary  that  he  had  no  ultimate  authority 
in  the  matter,  while  the  Secretary  asserted  at  least  a  moral  responsi- 
bility for  the  papers  that  issued  from  his  hand.16  An  important  note 
to  the  Russian  Minister,  which  preceded  the  publication  of  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine,  was  the  occasion  of  a  similar  controversy." 

Of  the  relations  between  the  President  and  the  other  Cabinet 
officers,  we  have  less  detailed  information.  Something  of  the  bad 
feeling  which  was  so  pronounced  between  Adams  and  Crawford 
existed  also  between  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  his  chief, 
growing  out  of  Crawford's  impatience  to  possess  the  Presidency.18 
Calhoun  and  Monroe,  on  the  other  hand,  preserved  the  kindly  feel- 
ings with  which  their  association  began,  although  the  Secretary  of 
War  is  represented  by  the  diarist  of  the  administration  as  being  very 
independent  in  his  opinions.  Wirt,  the  Attorney-General,  is  repre- 
sented as  habitually  echoing  the  President.19  Undoubtedly  the  fact 
that  this  able  Cabinet  was  at  cross  purposes  with  itself  was  an  im- 
portant factor  in  making  it  tractable  in  the  hands  of  its  chief.  The 
administration  affords  no  case  of  an  attempt  by  the  Secretaries  to 
overrule  the  President. 

18  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  V,  508. 

17  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VI,  212. 

'8  Writings  of  James  Monroe,  VII,  82 ;  Monroe  to  Ringgold,  May  8,  1826. 

10  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  IV,  36. 


PRESIDENT. 
JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  Massachusetts. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  South  Carolina. 


March  4,  1825,  to  March  4,  1829. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
DANIEL  BRENT  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1825. 
HENRY  CLAY,  of  Kentucky,  March  7,  1825. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 
SAMUEL  L.  SOUTHARD,  of  New  Jersey  (Secretary  of  the  Navy),  ad  interim, 

March  7,  1825. 
RICHARD  RUSH,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  7,  1825. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

JAMES  BARBOUR,  of  Virginia,  March  7,  1825. 
SAMUEL  L.  SOUTHARD,  of  New  Jersey  (Secretary  of  the  Navy),  ad  interim, 

May  26,  1828. 
PETER  B.  PORTER,  of  New  York,  May  26,  1828. 

ATTORN  EY-  GENERAL. 
WILLIAM  WIRT,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 
SAMUEL  L.  SOUTHARD,  of  New  Jersey;  continued  from  last  Administration. 


! 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 

The  peculiar  political  situation  of  i824-'25  gave  rise  to  the  first 
coalition  Cabinet.  The  presidential  election  divided  the  party  into 
four  great  factions,  supporting  Jackson,  Adams,  Crawford,  and 
Clay,  the  Calhoun  element  being  temporarily  obscured  as  a  separate 
interest  by  the  election  of  its  favorite  to  the  Vice-Presidency.  A 
decision  between  the  three  candidates  who  had  stood  highest  in  the 
electoral  colleges  was  reached  in  .the  House  of  Representatives,  on 
February  9,  1825,  in  favor  of  Adams,  who  had  stood  second  to 
Jackson  both  in  the  colleges,  and  by  the  popular  vote.  Two  days 
later,  Henry  Clay  received  an  offer  of  the  State  portfolio ;  the  reasons 
for  which  selection,  as  given  by  Adams  himself  were,  first,  that  Mr. 
Clay  had  been  a  prominent  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  commanding 
the  western  vote,  and  second,  that  he  was  the  best  fitted  man  for  the 
place  in  the  country.1 

The  familiar  charge  of  a  "  corrupt  bargain  "  has  been  disproven 
to  the 'satisfaction  of  all  unprejudiced  persons.  President  Adams 
published  an  explicit  denial  at  the  close  of  his  administration.2  And 
Clay's  contemporary  correspondence  affords  no  ground  for  suspicion. 
So  early  as  January  8,  he  announced  his  determination  to  support 
Adams,  but  with  an  enthusiasm  that  was  cold  enough  to  consist  with 
their  previous  relations.  Jackson,  he  could  not  support,  because  he 
did  not  approve  of  military  heroes  for  Presidents;  Crawford  was 
incapacitated  by  a  stroke  of  paralysis ;  therefore,  Adams  was  the  least 
of  evils.8 

That  Jackson  and  his  friends  should  accept  such  denial  was  not 
to  be  expected,  and  references  to  the  "  corrupt  bargain,"  "  the  Coali- 
tion," and  "  Mr.  Clay's  administration  "  adorned  their  correspondence 

1  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VIII,  174. 

*  National  Intelligencer,  March  n,   1829,  John  Quincy  Adams  to  a  Com- 
mittee of  Essex  and  Middlesex,  N.  J. 
'Clay's  Works,  ed.,  1904,  IV,  109-116. 

73 


74  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

to  the  last.  The  charge  was  not  confined  in  the  beginning  to  the 
Jacksonians;  but  was  caught  up  by  the  Calhounites,  the  Crawford 
men,  and  the  Dewitt  Clinton  group.4  And  its  animus  lay  in  the 
consideration  that  the  State  Department  was  still  regarded  as  a 
stepping  stone  to  the  Presidency ;  and  that  a  comparatively  new 
aspirant  had  possessed  an  old  vantage  ground.  Clay  himself  had 
faith  at  this  time  in  the  efficacy  of  the  Cabinet  succession,  and  was 
influenced  by  it  to  quit  the  Speakership  for  the  State  Department.5 

The  Crawford  faction,  Adams  would  have  represented  by  retain- 
ing Crawford  himself.  On  February  10,  the  President-elect  invited 
Crawford,  Southard,  and  Wirt  to  continue  in  their  respective  offices. 
But  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  perhaps  influenced  by  his  physical 
condition,  declined.  The  portfolio  was  accordingly  conferred  upon 
Richard  Rush  of  Pennsylvania,  who  had  been  the  last  of  Madison's 
Attorneys-General,  and  had  become  Minister  to  England  under 
Monroe.  In  this  appointment  is  found  the  beginning  of  the  special 
association  of  the  Keystone  State  with  the  Treasury  portfolio,  which 
grew  out  of  her  peculiar  interest  in  the  policy  of  protection,  and  con- 
tinued until  the  Civil  War.  Inasmuch  as  Mr.  Rush  had  been  out  of 
the  country  for  some  years,  his  preference  for  Jackson  for  the  Pres- 
idency may  not  have  entered  particularly  into  his  selection.  For  the 
War  Department,  however,  Adams  went  so  far  as  to  consider  General 
Jackson  himself,  though  he  was  deterred  from  making  an  offer  by 
the  assurance  that  it  would  be  received  "  in  ill  part." f  The  port- 
folio was  accordingly  conferred  upon  Senator  James  Barbour  of  Vir- 
ginia, a  former  Governor  of  that  State,  and  a  political  supporter  of 
Crawford's.  If  the  Jackson  interest  was  not  strongly  in  evidence 
at  the  Cabinet  table,  it  was  sufficiently  recognized  by  the  retention  of 
John  McLean  as  Postmaster-General. 

Many  things  combined  to  deny  to  the  John  Quincy  Adams  admin- 
istration the  prestige  enjoyed  by  that  of  Monroe.  The  level  of  ability 
declined ;  for  Secretaries  Rush  and  Barbour  did  not  supply  the  loss 

4  Clay's  Works,  ed.,  1904,  IV,  113,  Clay  to  Francis  Brooke,  January  28,  1825. 

5  Clay's  Works,  ed.,  1904,  IV,  115,  Clay  to  Francis  Brooke,  February  18, 1825; 
ibid.,  117,  Crittenden  to  Clay,  February,  15,  1825. 

6  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  I,  249. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  75 

of  Crawford  and  Calhoun.  Indeed  the  new  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
had  so  little  predisposition  for  his  office  that,  upon  his  belated  arrival 
at  Washington,  he  asked  to  change  places  permanently  with  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  who  had  had  charge  of  the  Treasury  ad 
interim.1  The  President,  however,  seems  to  have  entertained  an 
unduly  high  opinion  of  his  Minister  of  Finance ;  at  least  he  was  able, 
when  dissuading  him  from  thoughts  of  resignation,  to  pronounce 
his  Treasury  Reports  superior  to  any  since  Hamilton's." 

Moreover,  this  was  one  of  the  few  administrations,  which  have 
been  politically  out  of  joint  with  Congress.  The  reproach  cast  upon 
the  election  had  told  against  the  President's  support  from  the  outset ; 
and,  as  party  distinctions  revived,  the  opposition  secured  a  sweeping 
majority  for  the  Congress  which  sat  from  1827  to  1829.  The  strain 
of  the  situation  is  indicated  by  the  attempts  to  curtail  the  powers  of 
the  Executive  by  amendments  to  the  Constitution.  These  included 
propositions  to  limit  the  tenure  of  the  President  to  a  single  term,  to 
choose  him  by  popular  election,  to  do  away  with  the  decision  of  con- 
tested elections  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  to  forbid  the 
appointment  of  members  of  Congress  to  executive  offices.9 

In  its  inner  relations,  this  administration  was  unusually  harmon- 
ious. Upon  retiring,  President  Adams  saw  fit  to  publish  a  letter 
wherein  he  declared  that  more  than  ordinary  concord  had  prevailed, 
and  commended  the  services  of  each  Secretary  individually.  And 
this  tribute  seems  to  have  been  more  than  a  formal  courtesy, 
though  it  probably  amounted  only  to  that,  when  several  later  Presi- 
dents followed  Adams'  example. 

The  most  serious  disagreement  that  arose  concerned  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  General-in-Chief  of  the  army  in  1828.  Secretary 
Rush  in  giving  an  account  of  this  to  James  K.  Polk  and  James  Buch- 
anan, nearly  twenty  years  afterwards,  said  that  it  came  near  to  break- 
ing up  the  Cabinet;  but  the  spectacle  of  broken  Cabinets  had  then 
become  so  common  that  the  ex- Secretary  probably  exaggerated  its 
possibilities.  According  to  the  account,  Generals  Scott,  Gaines,  and 

7  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VII,  38. 

8  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VII,  401. 

8  Ames,  Amendments  to  the  Constitution,  pp.  339-343- 


76  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

McComb  were  all  under  consideration,  Scott  being  the  choice  of  Clay, 
who  was  very  ardent  in  his  preference,  and  likewise  of  Barbour, 
Southward  and  Wirt.  After  the  discussion  had  been  going  on  six 
weeks,  President  Adams  asked  Secretary  Rush,  who  had  hitherto 
taken  no  part  in  it,  for  his  opinion.  The  reply  was  decidedly  in  favor 
of  McComb.  The  President  had  not  before  expressed  his  own 
opinion ;  but  upon  hearing  this,  "  he  straitened  himself  up  in  his 
seat,"  so  the  account  runs,  "  and  in  his  peculiar  manner  said,  '  and 
I  think  so  too ; '  "  and  General  McComb  was  appointed.10 

Clay  proved  himself  a  loyal  subordinate.  The  occasional  speeches 
which  he  and  one  or  two  of  his  colleagues  made,  while  visiting  their 
own  States,  were  probably  the  beginning  of  Cabinet  activities  on  the 
stump.  At  the  hands  of  Jacksonian  editors,  this  administration  was 
roundly  abused  for  seeking  to  perpetuate  itself,  though  probably  none 
was  ever  less  offensive  in  its  methods.  It  was  a  time  of  transition 
between  modes  of  President-making;  and  it  suited  the  humor  of 
Duff  Green,  editor  of  the  Telegraph,  to  take  high  ground  against 
campaign  speeches  by  Cabinet  officers.  The  absence  of  Clay  and 
one  or  two  others  from  the  seat  of  Government  gave  rise  to  the 
name  of  "  the  travelling  Cabinet,"  and  their  visits  to  their  homes 
were  styled  "  electioneering  perambulations." 3 

Early  in  1828,  several  of  the  Secretaries  wished  to  resign,  Clay 
pleading  ill  health,  and  Rush  and  Barbour  desiring  diplomatic  ap- 
pointments. Adams  was  deeply  sensitive  at  having  his  administra- 
tion break  up,  while  political  defeat  stared  him  in  the  face.  And  he 
persuaded  Clay  and  Rush  to  remain,  though  the  former  was  obliged 
to  leave  his  Department  to  his  chief  clerk  for  an  extended  period. 
Secretary  Barbour,  who  especially  desired  an  opportunity  to  go 
abroad,  was  made  Minister  to  England ;  and  the  vacancy  in  the  War 
Department  was  filled  by  appointing  General  Peter  B.  Porter,  of 
New  York,  in  which  choice  the  President  yielded  to  his  Cabinet. 

The  break  in  the  administration  called  forth  a  pathetic  plaint  from 
Mr.  Adams :  "  In  my  own  political  downfall,  I  am  bound  to  involve 

10  Folk's  Diary,  XI,  63,  64,  January  10,  1847 ;  Curtis,  Life  of  James  Buchanan, 
I,  606 ;  Rush  to  Buchanan,  June  2,  1846. 

11  The  Telegraph,  1830,  July  9,  15,  16. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  77 

unnecessarily  none  of  my  friends.  Mr.  Clay  thinks  that  the  appoint- 
ment of  Governor  Barbour  would  not  have  a  bad  political  effect  upon 
the  administration.  In  this  he  is  greatly  mistaken.  The  effect  will 
be  violent,  and  probably  decisive.  But  why  should  I  require  men  to 
sacrifice  themselves  for  me  ?  " 

The  long  Republican  regime  engendered  a  tenaciousness  of  office 
among  Cabinet  Ministers  that  is  well  illustrated  by  a  question  on  the 
part  of  Attorney-General  Wirt,  as  to  whether  he  and  his  colleagues 
ought  to  resign  if  Adams  failed  of  reelection,  and  by  the  answer  of 
ex-President  Monroe  to  whom  Wirt  turned  for  advice.  Monroe 
herein  enters  into  a  discussion  of  Cabinet  tenure,  which  is  in  curious 
contrast  with  later  views.  The  liability  of  Department  Heads  to 
impeachment,  he  says,  implies  a  tenure  depending  upon  good  behav- 
ior in  office.  Still  they  are  the  President's  councillors,  and  so  ought 
to  be  changed,  when  any  change  of  principles  occurs  in  the  Govern- 
ment ;  but  never  to  become  the  mere  appendages  and  creatures  of  the 
existing  incumbent  of  the  Presidency.  However,  it  is  hard  to  see 
how  they  could  remain  in  office  without  the  President's  sanction, 
which  view  is  less  applicable  to  the  Attorney-General  than  to  the 
other  Cabinet  officers,  because  the  President  has  less  connection  with 
his  duties  and  less  responsibility  for  them.13 

But,  immediately  after  the  elections  showed  that  General  Andrew 
Jackson  would  succeed  to  the  next  presidential  term,  the  Telegraph, 
put  an  end  to  all  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  Cabinet  resignations 
by  publishing  the  following :  "  We  take  it  for  granted  that  he 

(Jackson)  will  reward  his  friends  and  punish  his  enemies 

He  is  expected  to  punish  Messrs.  Clay,  Rush,  Southard,  Porter,  Wirt 
and  others."  On  March  3,  the  entire  Cabinet  put  their  resignations 
into  the  hands  of  President  Adams,  and  vacated  the  Departments. 

12  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VII,  526. 

18  Kennedy,  Life  of  William  Wirt,  II,  221 ;  Monroe  to  Wirt,  October  24,  1828. 


PRESIDENT. 
ANDREW  JACKSON,  Tennessee. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  South  Carolina.     (Resigned  December  28,  1832.) 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
HUGH  LAWSON  WHITE,  Tennessee. 


March  4,  1829,  to  March  4,  1833. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
JAMES  A.  HAMILTON,  of  New  York,  ad  interim,  March  4,  1829. 
MARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  of  New  York,  March  6,  1829. 
EDWARD  LIVINGSTON,  of  Louisiana,  May  24,  1831. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

SAMUEL  D.  INGHAM,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  6,  1829. 
ASBURY  DICKINS  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  June  21,  1831. 
Louis  McLANE,  of  Delaware,  August  8,  1831. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

JOHN  H.  EATON,  of  Tennessee,  March  9,  1829. 
PHILIP  G.  RANDOLPH  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  June  20,  1831. 
LEWIS  CASS,  of  Ohio,  August  i,  1831. 
ROGER  B.  TANEY,  of  Maryland   (Attorney-General),  ad  interim. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

JOHN  M.  BERRIEN,  of  Georgia,  March  9,  1829. 
ROGER  B.  TANEY,  of  Maryland,  July  20,  1831. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 
WILLIAM  T.  BARRY,  of  Kentucky,  March  9,  1829. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

CHARLES  HAY  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1829. 
JOHN  BRANCH,  of  North  Carolina,  March  9,  1829. 
JOHN  BOYLE  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  May  13,  1831. 
LEVI  WOODBURY,  of  New  Hampshire,  May  23,  1831. 


79 


PRESIDENT. 
ANDREW  JACKSON,  Tennessee. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
MARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  New  York. 


March  4,  1833,  to  March  4,  1837. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

EDWARD  LIVINGSTON,  of  Louisiana;   continued   from  last  Administration. 
Louis  McLANE,  of  Delaware,  May  29,  1833. 
JOHN  FORSYTH,  of  Georgia,  June  27,  1834. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

Louis  McLANE,  of  Delaware;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  J.  DUANE,  of  Pennsylvania,  May  29,  1833. 
ROGER  B.  TANEY,  of  Maryland,  September  23,  1833. 
MCCLINTOCK  YOUNG  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  June  25,  1834. 
LEVI  WOODBURY,  of  New  Hampshire,  June  27,  1834. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

LEWIS  CASS,  of  Ohio;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

CAREY   A.   HARRIS,    of   Tennessee    (Commissioner   of    Indian    Affairs),   ad 
interim,  October  5,  1836. 

BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER,  of  New  York  (Attorney-General),  ad  interim,  Octo- 
ber 26,  1836. 

BENJAMIN   F.   BUTLER,   of   New   York,    commissioned    March   3,    1837,   ad 
interim. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

ROGER  B.  TANEY,  of  Maryland;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER,  of  New  York,  November  15,  1833. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

WILLIAM  T.  BARRY,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
AMOS  KENDALL,  of  Kentucky,  May  I,  1833. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

LEVI  WOODBURY,  of  New  Hampshire;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
MAHLON  DICKERSON,  of  New  Jersey,  June  30,  1834. 


80 


JACKSON. 

The  blast  of  democracy,  that,  in  1828,  elected  a  frontier  President, 
who  was  primarily  a  military  hero,  caught  the  Cabinet  in  its  course. 
And,  while  the  more  striking  practices  and  regulations  that  were 
blown  in  upon  it,  proved  to  be  personal  with  General  Jackson,  or 
peculiar  to  him  and  his  disciples,  the  more  popular  character  that 
began  to  be  induced  on  the  political  side  of  the  Cabinet  has  remained 
a  permanent  factor  in  Executive  relations. 

The  first  new  feature  to  engage  the  attention  is  the  vigorous  slate- 
making.  For,  although  the  entire  administration  had  changed  once 
before,  at  the  accession  of  the  Republicans  in  1801,  there  had  not 
as  yet  been  an  assured  place  for  the  Assistant-Cabinet-maker.  On 
this  occasion,  that  personage  was  not  so  ubiquitous  as  he  has  become 
with  modern  means  of  communication ;  but  he  was  much  in  evidence 
at  Washington,  where  the  President-elect  arrived  so  early  as  Febru- 
ary n,  1829. 

In  making  up  his  official  household,  General  Jackson  put  fore- 
most the  personal  stipulation  that  some  one  of  his  Secretaries  should 
be  primarily  an  old  confidential  friend,  to  whom  he  could  unbosom 
his  troubles  and  perplexities  without  restraint.  For  this  place  of 
trust,  he  first  made  overtures  to  Judge  Hugh  L.  White  of  Tennes- 
see, who  declined  entering  the  administration.  The  second  choice 
was  Major  John  H.  Eaton,  Senator  from  Tennessee,  a  comrade  of 
Jackson's  congressional  life,  and  one  of  his  biographers,  but  a  man 
who  was  enough  younger  than  he  to  be  regarded  with  a  sort  of 
paternal  interest.  To  taking  Major  Eaton  into  the  administration, 
both  politicians  and  friends  saw  objections  private  and  public  alike; 
but  their  remonstrances  only  aroused  the  old  hero's  stubbornness  to 
the  extent  of  his  challenging  the  supernatural  powers  to  move  him 
from  his  determination.  And  his  favorite  was  slated  for  the  War 
Department.  With  that  point  carried,  Jackson  showed  himself  more 
amenable  to  influence  than  the  issue  justified. 

6  81 


82  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Especial  interest  attaches  to  the  placing  of  the  State  portfolio  at 
this  time.  In  the  appointment  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  New  York  was 
recognized  as  the  Empire  State,  and  the  Old  Dominion  was  super- 
seded, though  very  much  of  the  political  meaning  that  had  attached 
to  the  portfolio  was  now  at  an  end.  It  is  stated,  in  one  place  at 
least,1  that  Littleton  W.  Tazewell,  Senator  from  Virginia,  was  offered 
the  post.  Certain  it  is  that  the  Cabinet  slates  that  went  around 
among  the  more  aristocratic  party  men  included  Tazewell's  name,  as 
they  did  that  of  Langdon  Cheves  of  South  Carolina.  But  it  seems 
almost  inexplicable  that  the  most  eligible  of  Virginia  Republicans, 
after  the  passing  of  the  earlier  group,  should  have  refused  the  place 
that  tradition  marked  for  him.  Such  appointment  must  have  materi- 
ally altered  the  spirit  of  the  administration.  Furthermore,  New  York 
had  special  claims  to  being  taken  into  .the  closest  alliance  with  the 
National  Executive,  because  her  factions  were  uniting  into  parties 
that  had  given  Jackson  a  clear  majority.  Jackson  had  been  supported 
there  in  1824  by  Governor  Dewitt  Clinton,  while  Van  Buren,  who  was 
in  the  United  States  Senate  at  the  time,  had  preferred  Crawford,  and 
the  delegation  in  the  House  of  Representatives  had  given  the  vote 
of  the  State  to  Adams.  Then  an  alliance  had  followed  between  Clin- 
ton and  Van  Buren  for  the  support  of  Jackson.  The  State  election 
of  1828  had  made  Van  Buren  Governor,  though  it  was  shortly  taken 
for  granted  that  Jackson  would  call  him  into  the  administration. 
Meanwhile,  Clinton's  death  left  him  to  the  undisputed  leadership 
of  the  party.8 

Pennsylvania,  who  had  fastened  her  hands  upon  the  Treasury 
portfolio  in  1825,  sent  her  delegation  to  claim  it  again ;  furthermore 
the  agreement  upon  a  member  of  that  body,  Representative  Samuel 
D.  Ingham,  was  in  the  interest  of  Calhoun,  who  was  again  elected  to 
the  Vice-Presidency  and,  in  his  forecastings  of  higher  elevation, 
counted  upon  a  support  in  the  Keystone  State. 

The  Navy  portfolio  and  the  Attorney-General's  office  were  assigned 
to  John  Branch  and  John  M.  Berrien,  Senators  from  North  Carolina 
and  Georgia.  Considerations  of  locality  probably  had  much  to  do 

1  Tyler,  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  I,  479. 

2  Alexander,  A  Political  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  I,  335-343-346. 


JACKSON.  83 


with  this  arrangement.    These  two  members,  together  with  Ingham 
of  the  Treasury,  were  at  once  designated  as  the  Calhoun  wing  of 
e  Cabinet;  but  Jackson  himself  asserted  that  they  were  first  pro- 
sed by  Major  Eaton.8 

A  sixth  member  was  now  added  to  the  body  of  official  advisers 
to  the  President.  February  23,  the  Philadelphia  National  Gazette 
published  the  rumor  that  both  the  Vice-President  and  the  Postmaster- 
General  were  to  become  Cabinet  officers.  And  on  the  26th,  the 
Telegraph,  which  filled  the  newly  created  role  of  administration 
organ,  confirmed  the  report  so  far  as  the  Postmaster-General  was 
concerned.  The  editor  further  proceeded  to  defend  the  innovation 
by  arguing  that  neither  the  law  nor  the  Constitution  forbade  the 
President  to  call  any  person  whom  he  pleased,  even  a  private  citizen 
into  his  Cabinet  consultations;  and  naively  remarking  that  the  only 
effect  of  this  change  of  status  in  the  Head  of  the  Post-Office  would 
be  to  place  the  immense  patronage  of  the  Department  more  directly 
under  the  control  of  the  President,  and  to  cause  the  policy  of  all 
parts  of  the  Government  to  harmonize ;  adding  further  that  General 
Jackson  had  been  elected  by  the  people  to  reform  existing  abuses, 
and  that  he  was  not  accustomed  to  do  things  by  halves. 

It  was  the  original  intention  to  retain  Postmaster-General  McLean 
of  Ohio,  who  had  been  appointed  some  six  years  before  by  Monroe, 
and  had  been  undisturbed  by  Adams,  though  he  was  known  to  be 
using  the  patronage  for  Jackson's  election.  But,  when  the  existing 
incumbent  showed  signs  of  intractibility  about  the  proscription  of 
postmasters,  some  of  whom  were  his  own  appointees,  he  was  pro- 
vided for  by  elevation  to  the  Supreme  Bench.  Thus  the  distinction 
of  being  the  first  Postmaster-General  with  Cabinet  rank  fell  to  Major 
William  T.  Barry  of  Kentucky,  a  member  of  the  Jackson  central 
committee  in  the  late  campaign. 

The  approved  slate  made  an  unprecedented  draught  upon  Con- 
gress, taking  three  men  out  of  the  six  from  the  Senate,  and  a  fourth 
from  the  House  of  Representatives.  Inasmuch  as  the  unsettled  con- 
dition of  the  Senate  made  doubtful  the  confirmation  of  an  incoming 
Cabinet  with  different  principles  than  the  outgoing  one,  the  pre- 

8  Jackson  MSS.,  Memorandum  of  1831. 


84  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

caution  was  taken  of  having  Eaton,  Branch,  and  Berrien  hold  their 
seats,  until  the  Secretaries  of  the  State  and  Treasury  Departments 
had  been  confirmed.  Accordingly,  the  appointments  were  not  com- 
plete until  March  9.  By  transferring  legislators  to  the  Executive 
in  this  manner,  Jackson  laid  himself  open  to  the  charge  of  gross 
inconsistency.  Furthermore,  his  previous  stand  against  such  pro- 
cedure was  fresh  in  the  public  mind,  because  the  calls  for  Constitu- 
tional amendment  provoked  by  the  elevation  of  Clay  from  the 
Speakership  to  the  State  Department,  had  issued  chiefly  from  the 
Legislature  of  Tennessee.4  Some  explanation  was  necessary.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  his  First  Annual  Message  to  Congress,  the  President 
entered  the  plea  that  the  Cabinet  and  certain  other  high  officers 
ought  to  be  exceptions  to  any  rule  of  exclusion,  because  these  posi- 
tions called  for  political  experience  and  the  best  talent.5 

The  new  Cabinet  was  admittedly  a  weak  one.  Historically,  it  has 
a  prominent  figure  in  Van  Buren ;  but  the  great  leader  of  the  New 
York  Democracy  was  only  beginning  to  be  distinguished  in  the 
National  theatre.  Among  the  aristocrats  of  the  party  there  was 
some  criticism  of  the  falling  off  of  quality.  But  an  answer  to  this 
that  came  from  Cambreling  of  New  York,  an  administration  favorite 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  was  that  the  new  Cabinet  was  in- 
finitely better  fitted  for  harmony,  practical  work,  and  the  interests 
of  the  whole  country,  than  if  it  had  contained  all  leaders  and  no 
wheel-horses. 

A  greater  force  in  the  administration  was  the  "  Kitchen  Cabinet." 
The  "  Kitchen  Cabinet "  legend,  which  owes  its  serious  form  to 
James  Parton,  and  its  humorous  one  to  Major  Jack  Downing,  who 
was  Jackson's  Mr.  Dooley,  has  fallen  in  its  turn  into  the  hands  of 
destructive  criticism.  It  is  unpopular  with  Jackson's  ardent  admirers. 
And  attempts  have  been  made  to  reduce  it  to  an  absurdity,  or  to 
show  that  it  is  a  mere  extravaganza  upon  a  practice  which  Jackson 
shared  with  most  Presidents.  The  legend  has  too  strong  foundations, 
however,  to  be  swept  away.  Minute  criticism  would  discover  that 
the  Kitchen  Cabinet  had  a  more  irregular  existence  and  a  less  definite 

4  Ames,  Amendments  to  the  Constitution,  31-32. 

5  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  II,  448. 


JACKSON.  85 


personnel,  than  the  old  version  implies ;  but  it  would  not  detract  very 
much  from  its  activities.  Running  through  Jackson's  papers,  for  the 
period  of  his  Presidency,  is  the  term  "  Cabinet  proper  "  to  designate 
his  official  advisers,  which  seems  to  suggest  that  he  himself  recog- 
nized some  under-Cabinet. 

The  destinctive  fact  about  Jackson's  Kitchen  Cabinet  is  that  he 
gave  his  counsels  to  men  who  were  primarily  politicians,  a  class  that 
sprang  up,  so  far  as  the  National  Government  was  concerned,  with 
the  democratising  of  politics.  A  little  later,  an  excellent  specimen 
of  the  same  type  appeared  in  the  ranks  of  the  other  party  in  the 
person  of  Thurlow  Weed  of  New  York,  who,  without  establishing 
himself  at  Washington,  influenced  the  political  side  of  Whig  and 
Republican  administrations  from  Harrison  to  Lincoln. 

The  individuals  of  this  sort,  whose  influence  with  Jackson  is  most 
distinctly  traceable,  are  Amos  Kendall,  who  had  been  a  party  editor 
in  Kentucky,  before  he  appeared  at  Washington  in  the  train  that 
awaited  the  distribution  of  spoils ;  General  DufT  Green,  editor  of  the 
Telegraph,  who  was  shortly  succeeded  by  Frank  P.  Blair,  editor  of 
the  Globe,  the  latter  sheet  being  set  up  by  the  administration,  after 
the  rupture  between  Jackson  and  Calhoun ;  and  Major  W.  B.  Lewis, 
an  old  friend  of  Jackson's,  who  shared  his  life  in  the  White  House. 
The  usual  statement  includes  also  Isaac  Hill,  editor  of  a  party  sheet 
in  New  Hampshire,  who  was  arranged  into  the  Senate  after  failing 
of  confirmation  to  the  office  Jackson  had  set  for  him.  And  Secre- 
taries Van  Buren  and  Eaton,  being  the  only  Department  Heads 
that  Jackson  took  into  his  confidence,  are  described  as  belonging  to 
both  Cabinets.  Early  in  the  administration  the  opposition  news- 
papers began  to  call  attention  to  the  undue  prominence  of  editors 
and  managers  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  with  such  phrases  as  "  Duff 
Green,  President  de  facto,"  "  Jackson,  Lewis  &  Co.,"  and  later 
"  Blair,  Kendall  &  Co." 

The  Kitchen  Cabinet  was  concerned  primarily  with  party  manipula- 
tion ;  Secretary  Ingham  once  referred  to  it  as  the  "  confidential 
political  council."  '  Upon  this  aspect  of  it,  Major  Lewis  throws  inter- 
esting light  in  speaking  of  the  first  great  National  nominating  conven- 

6  Nilcs  Register,  XL,  413,  Ingham  to  Jackson,  July  26,   1831. 


86  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

tion.  "  I  well  remember,"  he  says,  writing  to  some  Ohio  politician, 
"  you  brought  Governor,  then  General  Lucas  to  my  office  with  most, 
if  not  all  the  other  delegates  from  Ohio,  that  we  might  talk  over  and 

arrange  matters  before  they  left  for  Baltimore General 

Lucas  was  made  presiding  officer  of  that  great  Convention  at  my 
suggestion,  and  by  my  arrangement." ''  Jackson  also  preferred  these 
men  over  his  official  advisers  in  dispensing  the  patronage.  Moreover 
his  disregard  of  official  conventions  allowed  them  a  larger  participa- 
tion in  matters  of  state  than  has  been  the  lot  of  other  men  of  their 
stamp.  Their  influence  is  traceable  throughout  the  long  quarrel  with 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Major  Lewis  was  fixed  upon  by 
the  officers  of  the  Bank  as  their  most  influential  go-between  with 
the  President ; 8  and  Amos  Kendall  was  general  manager  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  United  States  deposits.9 

One  of  Jackson's  boldest  innovations  was  the  discontinuation  of 
Cabinet  meetings.  Four  months  after  the  inauguration,  Niles  Regis- 
ter, published  the  following:  "  No  Cabinet  council  has  been  held  since 
the  present  administration  came  into  office  and  the  presumption  is 
that  the  President  does  not  approve  of  formal  assemblages  of  the 
Cabinet  for  the  purpose  of  getting  their  views  on  important  ques- 
tions." :  The  innovation  called  forth  a  protest  from  a  group  of  Con- 
gressmen, members  of  the  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  delegations,  who 
held  a  caucus  upon  the  situation.  The  principals  were  George  M. 
Bibb  and  Charles  A.  Wickliffe,  Representatives,  and  Felix  Grundy, 
a  Senator.11  In  March,  1830,  Bibb  communicated  to  the  President  a 
request  that  he  hold  "  councils  composed  of  all  of  the  Heads  of  De- 
partments." Jackson  did  not  immediately  acquiesce ;  but  a  year  later, 
when  the  Cabinet  had  been  reorganized,  the  sessions  were  restored. 
Indeed,  Bibb  asserted,  referring  to  the  matter  later,  that  he  was  in- 
formed from  the  most  authentic  sources  that  the  sessions  were  held 

T  Jackson  MSS.,  Letter  of  W.  B.  Lewis,  March  15,  1839. 

8  Catteral,  Second  Bank  of  the  United  States,  182-185. 

9  Niles  Register,  XXXVII,  378;  January  30,  1830;  Jackson  MSS.,  1833,  Ken- 
dall to  McLane,  March  16,  Kendall  to  Jackson,  March  20;  Autobiography  of 
Amos  Kendall,  378-379. 

10  July  11,  1829. 

11  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VIII,  477. 


JACKSON.  87 


weekly,  a  statement  upon  which  Jackson's  general  attitude  towards 
his  advisers  throws  a  good  deal  of  doubt."  Although  this  caucus 
was  not  an  especially  representative  body,  being  apparently  composed 
of  friends  who  wished  to  save  Jackson  from  criticism,  the  episode  has 
a  good  deal  of  significance. 

In  the  vacation  of  Congress  of  1831,  the  administration  was  re- 
organized ;  and,  in  its  dissolution,  the  first  Cabinet  was  sensationally 
conspicuous.  The  rupture  in  the  Executive  had  a  two- fold  animus. 
Jackson  and  Calhoun  had  quarreled,  and  Van  Buren  had  become 
ingratiated  in  Jackson's  favor  as  his  chosen  successor. 

The  breaking  up  began  with  the  schism  in  Washington  society 
about  the  Eatons.  Shortly  before  the  inauguration,  Major  Eaton, 
under  circumstances  to  which  some  scandal  attached,  had  married 
the  daughter  of  the  landlord  of  himself  and  Jackson  during  their 
congressional  comradeship.  Mrs.  Calhoun  refused  to  recognize 
Mrs.  Eaton ;  and  the  ladies  of  the  Cabinet  and  the  diplomatic  corps 
followed  her  example.  Jackson,  whose  sympathies  were  the  more 
strongly  enlisted,  because  domestic  slanders,  called  forth  by  a  fierce 
political  canvas,  had  contributed  to  the  recent  death  of  his  own  wife, 
undertook  to  arbitrate  the  affair,  without  success.13  But  Van  Buren, 
whose  wife  was  not  living,  was  shrewd  enough  to  take  the  President's 
side ;  and  Barry,  the  Postmaster-General,  who  had  his  new  rank  to 
be  grateful  for,  did  likewise.  In  the  parlors  of  Washington,  mean- 
while, the  affair  was  being  talked  over  as  the  reason  why  the  Cabinet 
did  not  meet.  And  Jackson  received  new  but  false  light,  when  some- 
body asked  him,  whether  Major  Eaton  were  not  politically  opposed 
to  Calhoun. 

The  President's  suspicions  were  promptly  strengthened  by  the 
singularly  coincident  disclosure  of  the  secrets  of  the  Cabinet  consul- 
tation of  twelve  years  before  on  his  conduct  in  the  Seminole  War. 
When  it  was  whispered  that  Calhoun,  the  then  Secretary  of  War, 
had  stood  for  reprimanding  him  for  his  proceedings  in  Florida,  every 
untoward  event  of  his  presidency  was  clothed  with  new  meaning. 
The  Eaton  scandal  had  been  a  persecution,  designed  to  drive  his 

"Jackson  MSS.,  Letter  by  George  M.  Bibb,  January  22,  1832. 
"Jackson  MSS.,  Eaton  Papers. 


88  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

favorite  Minister  from  the  Cabinet ;  the  defeat  of  appointments,  and 
the  failure  to  ratify  a  treaty  had  been  meant  to  discredit  the  admin- 
istration. It  was  all  a  "  horrible  plot "  of  the  Vice-President's  to 
secure  the  succession  for  himself ;  and  half  of  the  Cabinet  were  in  it." 

The  person  who  cares  to  trace  through  the  columns  of  the  Tele- 
graph and  Globe  the  circuitous  route  by  which  the  secrets  of  Monroe's 
Cabinet  were  conveyed  to  Jackson,  is  satisfied  that,  if  there  was  any 
plot,  it  was  on  Van  Buren's  side.  Ex-Secretary  Crawford  had  dis- 
closed the  matter  to  Senator  Forsyth ;  and  it  had  come  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  James  A.  Hamilton,  Van  Buren's  political  agent,  during  the 
Jackson  campaign.15  The  work  of  using  it  to  vacate  a  place  in  Jack- 
son's favor  for  Van  Buren  was  so  well  attended  to  by  Hamilton,  that 
his  chief  was  able  to  disclaim  any  knowledge  of  the  affair.18 

The  Cabinet  dissolution  began  with  the  resignations  of  Van  Buren 
and  Eaton.  The  retiring  Secretary  of  State  gave  out  in  a  published 
letter  that,  inasmuch  as  President  Jackson  had  consented  to  accept 
a  second  term  of  office,  and  he  himself  had  been  named  as  next  in 
the  line  of  succession,  he  could  not  properly  continue  in  the  Cabinet, 
because  his  presence  would  be  likely  to  invite  attack  against  the 
measures  of  the  administration." 

This  novel  doctrine  was  one  of  Jackson's  contributions  to  the  body 
of  Cabinet  regulations.  According  to  a  statement  that  he  made  some 
years  after  his  retirement,  he  had  entered  upon  his  administration, 
with  a  set  of  "  written  rules,"  one  of  which  excluded  from  member- 
ship in  the  Cabinet  any  person,  who  aspired  to  the  Presidency.18 
And  an  editorial  in  the  Globe,  of  the  time  of  Van  Buren's  resignation, 
promulgated  the  new  doctrine,  with  lessons  drawn  from  the  Monroe- 
Armstrong  quarrel  of  Madison's  administration,  the  political  strife 
in  Monroe's  Cabinet,  and  the  "  corrupt  bargain  "  between  Adams  and 
Clay. "  Jackson  was  thoroughly  sincere  in  his  hostility  to  the  "  Sec- 

14  Jackson  MSS.,  Memorandum  of  1831;  The  Globe,  July  13,  1831. 

15  The  Telegraph,  February  17,  22,  25,  1831. 

16  The  Globe,  February  25,  1831. 
"  The  Globe,  April  20,  1831. 

18  Polk  MSS.,  Jackson  to  Blair,  November  29,  1844. 
"June  16,  1831. 


JACKSON.  89 

retary  dynasty ; "  and  he  handed  down  the  principle  to  those  Presi- 
dents who  were  his  political  disciples. 

With  the  resignations  of  two  Secretaries  tendered  voluntarily,  the 
President  called  for  those  of  the  others,  upon  the  ground  that  the 
Cabinet  had  come  together  in  great  harmony,  and  as  a  unit,  and  that 
it  would  cause  unjust  misconceptions  and  malignant  misrepresenta- 
tions, if  two  members  were  permitted  to  retire  without  the  others 
withdrawing  at  the  same  time.20  It  is  not  surprising  that  this  novel 
argument  for  the  retiring  of  the  Cabinet  as  a  body  failed  to  carry  con- 
dction.  In  fact  Mr.  Barry  was  continued  in  the  Post-Office  Depart- 
lent,  upon  the  ground  that  the  reasons  for  which  the  others  had 
;n  retired  did  not  apply  to  him.  The  deposed  officers  were  swift 
make  their  grievances  public;  and  the  newspapers  aired  all  the 
indals  and  sensations  of  the  administration,  until  the  time,  when 
ic  assembling  of  Congress  gave  first  place  to  the  question,  whether 
le  vacation  Cabinet  could  be  confirmed.  After  six  weeks  of  investi- 
ttion  of  the  grounds  for  the  late  dissolution,  and  of  examination  of 
ic  antecedents  of  the  new  appointees,  this  was  accomplished.  But 
Van  Buren's  appointment  to  be  Minister  to  England  was  defeated. 
The  second  Cabinet  was  a  much  abler  and  more  dignified  body  than 
the  one  that  had  been  so  abruptly  dissolved. 

The  most  radical  change  in  the  order  of  Executive  relations 
wrought  by  Jackson  grew  out  of  his  famous  war  on  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  The  question  here  involved,  stated  in  its  most  specific 
form,  is,  whether  the  Treasury  Department  is,  or  rather  was,  subject 
to  the  direction  of  the  President  in  like  manner  with  the  other 
Departments.  The  distinctive  features  of  the  statutes  relating  to 
the  Treasury  have  been  already  noted.21  The  head  of  that  Depart- 
ment had  his  duties  defined  in  a  way  that  made  him  more  subject  to 
the  orders  of  Congress  than  the  other  Secretaries ;  and  he  was  also 
granted  some  privileges  with  that  body  which  the  others  were  not. 
Furthermore,  in  defining  his  general  duties,  the  law  was  obscure  as 
to  what  authority  should  issue  the  orders,  Congress  or  President. 
The  relations  of  the  Departments  with  Congress  had  required  further 


20  Jackson  MSS.,  Jackson  to  Ingkam,  April  20,  1831. 

21  See  Chapter,  The  Origin  of  the  Cabinet. 


QO  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

settlement  almost  immediately.  But,  on  the  Executive  side,  no  real 
issue  had  as  yet  been  raised.  That  Washington  should  dictate  to 
Hamilton  in  his  own  Department,  or  Jefferson  to  Gallatin,  carries  a 
personal  incongruity.  Between  Monroe  and  Crawford,  there  had 
been  friction,  and  the  President  had  chafed  under  the  Secretary's 
power  to  transmit  the  Annual  Report  from  the  Treasury  to  Congress, 
without  first  submitting  it  to  the  Chief  Executive.22  But  in  the  next 
administration,  Secretary  Rush  had  submitted  those  reports  to  Pres- 
ident Adams.28  Jackson  forced  an  issue,  from  which  the  Presidency 
emerged  with  strengthened  powers. 

The  Act  of  Aprjl  10,  1816,  under  which  the  Second  Bank  of  the 
United  States  was  established,  provided  that  the  Government  funds 
should  be  deposited  in  the  Bank  or  its  branches,  unless  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  should  otherwise  order  and  direct;  in  which  case 
that  officer  should  report  his  reasons  to  Congress.  The  story  of  how 
Jackson  anticipated  the  movement  for  a  recharter  of  the  Bank  in  his 
early  messages,  how  he  moderated  his  tone,  under  the  influence  of  Sec- 
retary McLane,  who  became  head  of  the  Treasury  in  1831,  how  the 
act  for  the  renewal  of  the  charter  was  obtruded  upon  him  as  a  cam- 
paign issue  in  1832,  of  the  veto,  and  of  his  triumphant  reelection  over 
Clay,  the  advocate  of  the  Bank,  is  familiar. 

Soon  after  Jackson's  reelection,  the  Globe,  began  to  agitate  the 
removal  of  the  Government  deposits.  March  19,  1833,  the  President 
called  for  the  written  opinions  of  his  official  Cabinet.  The  day  before 
he  had  asked  for  the  written  opinion  of  Amos  Kendall,  who  also 
favored  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  with  voluntary  advice.  And 
the  unconventional  procedure  called  forth  from  the  Government 
directors  of  the  Bank  a  written  suggestion  to  the  President  that  the 
Secretary  would  be  a  more  suitable  agent  than  Mr.  Kendall  for  com- 
munication between  the  Executive  and  themselves.24  Secretary  Mc- 
Lane took  the  stand  that  the  law  under  which  the  Bank  was  char- 
tered, vested  the  control  of  the  deposits  in  the  head  of  the  Treasury, 
and  that  the  President  had  no  authority  to  direct  or  over-rule  him  in 

23  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VI,  439. 

23  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VII,  82,  347. 

24  Jackson  MSS.,  1833,  March. 


JACKSON.  91 

the  performance  of  his  duties ;  furthermore,  he  advanced  strong  ob- 
jections to  the  removal.  General  Cass,  the  Secretary  of  War,  de- 
clined to  give  an  opinion.  Secretary  Woodbury  of  the  Navy  and 
'ostmaster-General  Barry  approved  the  removal  project  in  a  general 
ay.  By  Taney,  the  Attorney-General,  it  was  very  strongly  favored, 
Jackson's  support,  however,  was  materially  diminished  by  a  second 
opinion,  taken  at  the  close  of  April.  Taney  continued  strongly  to 
favor  the  removal;  but  Woodbury  retracted  to  the  extent  of  disap- 
proving any  early  or  sudden  transfer,  and  Barry  definitely  advised 
delay,  until  the  assembling  of  Congress.  Most  important  of  all,  Mc- 
Lane  stood  immovably  by  his  old  position. 

The  President  undaunted,  and  favored  by  the  circumstance  that 
Congress  was  not  in  session,  now  proceeded  to  reconstruct  the  Cab- 
inet, cautiously  at  first.  McLane,  whose  antecedents  were  Federal- 
ist, was  too  valuable  a  recruit  to  offend ;  and  was  transferred  from 
the  Treasury  to  the  State  Department,  where  a  vacancy  was  afforded 
by  Livingston's  preference  for  a  foreign  mission.  It  was  even  sus- 
pected that  he  influenced  the  selection  of  his  successor  in  the  Treas- 
ury, William  J.  Duane  of  Pennsylvania,  after  the  peculiar  issue  of 
that  appointment  had  convicted  Jackson  of  short-sightedness ;  but 
this  was  authoritatively  denied.25  The  new  incumbent  of  the  Treas- 
ury was  known  to  entertain  Constitutional  objections  to  the  Bank. 
But  upon  the  question  of  removing  the  deposits,  he  had  not  declared 
himself ;  and  when  called  upon  to  be  the  agent  of  such  a  measure, 
asserted  the  same  opinions  as  his  predecessor.  To  these  he  firmly 
adhered  during  a  brisk  correspondence  that  ensued  between  Presi- 
dent, Secretary,  and  Attorney-General.  On  September  23,  the  di- 
vision within  the  Executive  culminated  in  the  abrupt  dismissal  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  transfer  of  the  Attorney- 
General  to  that  post.  Jackson  had  already  communicated  to  the 
Cabinet  on  the  i8th,  his  final  decision  to  effect  the  removal  of  the 
deposits.  The  paper  which  he  presented  on  the  occasion  closes 
with  a  very  characteristic  utterance :  "  The  President  again  repeats 
that  he  begs  his  Cabinet  to  consider  the  proposed  measure  as  his  own, 

25  Autobiography  of  Amos  Kendall,  377 ;  Jackson  MSS.,  Van  Buren  to  Jack- 
son, September  18,  1833. 


92  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

in  the  support  of  which  he  shall  require  no  one  of  them  to  make  a 
sacrifice  of  opinion  or  principle.  The  responsibility  every  way  is 
and  shall  be  his."  With  Taney  for  official  director,  and  Amos  Ken- 
dall for  the  immediate  agent,  the  work  of  removal  was  accomplished. 

But  the  President's  triumph  was  not  complete,  until  his  assumption 
of  the  authority  reposed  in  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had  been 
sustained  by  Congress.  And  the  session  of  i833~'34  was  practically 
consumed  with  the  subject.  The  House  of  Representatives,  over- 
coming its  proverbial  ticklishness  about  matters  financial,  with  its 
devotion  to  Jackson,  upheld  his  course  with  a  series  of  resolutions 
against  the  recharter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  the  res- 
toration of  the  Government  deposits,  which  action  brought  some 
prominence  to  James  K.  Polk,  a  Democrat  member  from  Tennessee, 
who  was  afterwards  to  make  large  political  capital  out  of  the  Jackson 
tradition. 

In  the  Senate,  Jackson  was  in  the  minority,  with  Clay  for  opposi- 
tion leader.  The  President  suffered  a  formal  defeat  in  the  passage 
of  the  famous  resolutions  of  censure,  afterwards  expunged.  But,  for 
practical  purposes,  the  deadlock  between  the  two  Houses  of  Congress 
operated  as  their  united  support  would  have  done.  The  burden  of 
Clay's  argument  for  the  President's  censure,  it  should  be  noted,  was 
the  exemption  of  the  Treasury,  by  Constitutional  and  statutory  pro- 
vision, from  Executive  interference.  Jackson,  who  answered  in  a 
written  protest,  did  not  meet  him  squarely  upon  that  point ;  but  pro- 
mulgated a  broad  theory  of  the  Executive  power  in  more  general 
terms.26  Proposals  to  restrict  the  powers  that  the  President  was 
abusing,  by  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  were  an  incident  of  the 
controversy. 

It  is  illuminating  to  couple  with  this  episode  a  controversy  of  much 
humbler  proportions  over  the  nature  of  the  Post  Office,  which  was 
drawn  into  a  case  that  was  heard  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  during  Van  Buren's  presidency.  New  importance  had  attached 
to  the  Post  Office  establishment  within  a  few  years.  Jackson  had 

28  The  Congressional  Globe,  1833-1834,  pp.  54-57;  Richardson,  Messages  and 
Papers  of  the  Presidents,  III,  79,  84;  See  Chapter,  The  Cabinet  and  the  Presi- 
dent. Infra. 


JACKSON.  93 

tiled  its  head  into  the  Cabinet;  and  in  1836,  July  2,  the  law  had 
irdered  that  certain  postmasters  be  appointed  by  the  President  with 

le  concurrence  of  the  Senate.  In  its  earlier  years,  it  had  been  a 
small  concern,  rather  a  bureau  under  the  Treasury  than  a  separate 
>ranch  of  administration,  which  relation  we  take  to  have  been  due 
the  first  place  to  Hamilton's  aggressiveness,  and  afterwards  to  a 
statutory  provision  that  the  head  of  the  General  Post  Office  should 
report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  President  Monroe  had 

istituted  the  fashion  of  calling  upon  the  Postmater-General  for  an 

Annual  Report  to  be  submitted  to  Congress,  along  with  others,  at 
the  time  when  the  President's  Message  was  transmitted.27  The  Post 
Office  had  been  established  under  the  Constitution,  not  by  a  per- 
manent statute — it  operates  at  the  present  time,  under  an  act  of  such 
recent  date  as  June  8,  1872 — ,  but  by  a  series  of  temporary  provisions, 
enacted  for  short  intervals.  The  original  one  of  these,  September 
22,  1789,  had  expressly  stated  that  the  Postmaster-General  "  should 
be  subject  to  the  direction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  in 
performing  the  duties  of  his  office."  !  But  the  provision  dropped  out 
of  the  succeedings  acts. 

While  the  great  quarrel  between  the  Executive  and  the  Treasury 
was  still  in  men's  minds,  an  action  was  brought  in  the  Circuit  Court 
of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  to  compel  Amos 
Kendall,  the  Postmaster-General,  to  complete,  according  to  a  special 
act  passed  by  Congress  in  favor  of  the  complainants,  certain  contracts 
entered  into  by  his  predecessor.  The  Court  issued  a  writ  of  man- 
damus; whereupon  the  case  was  appealed.  The  argument  before 
the  Supreme  Court  to  sustain  the  mandamus  opened  up  the  whole 
subject  of  the  nature  of  the  Executive;  and  maintained  that  the 
Post  Office  was  an  institution  apart  from  Executive  control.  The 
Court  declined  to  concern  itself  with  such  far-reaching  questions, 
beyond  expressing  disapproval  that  they  had  been  raised.  But  it 
sustained  the  mandamus  by  another  line  of  reasoning.29  This  dispo- 
sition to  circumscribe  the  President's  field  of  authority  was  faintly 

'"  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VII,  541. 
28  Statutes  at  Large,  I,  70. 
20 12  Peters  570,  610. 


94  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

heard  again  in  Tyler's  administration,  when  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  was  proposed  that  should  make  both  the  Treasury  and 
the  Post  Office  independent  of  his  control.30 

With  the  Senate  keeping  up  a  fierce  cannonade  against  his  use  of 
the  appointing  power,  Jackson  did  not  venture  to  nominate  the  Cab- 
inet officers  of  the  vacation  of  1833  f°r  confirmation  until  the  session 
was  almost  at  an  end.  June  24,  1834,  he  communicated  the  appoint- 
ment of  Roger  B.  Taney  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  and  it  was 
rejected  by  a  party  vote  of  28  to  18.  The  vacancy  in  the  Attorney- 
Generalship,  arising  from  Taney's  promotion,  had  been  filled  by  the 
appointment  of  Benjamin  F.  Butler  of  New  York,  a  selection  of 
Van  Buren's ;  and  this  was  confirmed.  On  June  ,27,  John  Forsyth, 
Senator  from  Georgia,  and  formerly  Minister  to  Spain,  was  nomi- 
nated to  be  Secretary  of  State,  and  Levi  Woodbury,  head  of  the  Navy 
Department,  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  both  of  these  were 
confirmed.  One  day  later,  the  vacancy  in  the  Navy  Department  was 
filled  by  the  appointment  of  Mahlon  Dickerson,  Senator  from  New 
Jersey.  A  year  later,  a  Cabinet  change  of  peculiar  interest  occurred, 
when  Barry  of  the  Post-Office  Department  gave  place  to  Amos 
Kendall  of  "  Kitchen  Cabinet "  fame.  Inasmuch  as  Kendall  had 
requested  that  his  installation  be  deferred  until  Congress  had  ad- 
journed, that  he  might  have  some  months  of  service  to  recommend 
him  for  confirmation,  the  change  occurred  in  May  1835.  The  next 
session,  however,  brought  Jackson  a  majority  in  the  Senate;  and, 
when  his  favorite  was  nominated,  December  28,  the  opposition 
asserted  itself  only  by  a  delay  of  two  weeks  and  a  small  dissenting 
vote. 

In  ability,  Jackson's  last  Cabinet  was  as  indifferent  as  his  first; 
but  the  personal  relations  were  vastly  improved.  He  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  asserting  that  he  would  "  have  harmony  above  every- 
thing else ;  "  and  during  the  last  two  years  of  his  administration,  his 
maxim  lost  its  unconscious  irony. 

Politically,  Jackson's  triumphs  worked  to  the  advantage  of  the 
nascent  Whig  party.  The  full  effect  was  deferred  until  Van  Bureri 
had  succeeded  his  master  in  the  Presidency,  when  a  most  untimely 

30  Ames,  Amendments  to  the  Constitution,  351. 


JACKSON.  95 


financial  panic  branded  the  fiscal  innovations  with  failure  in  the 
minds  of  the  people.  But  the  rifts  that  cleft  the  Democrat  party 
asunder  in  1840  were  first  opened  by  the  Bank  controversy.  The 
case  of  mugwumpery,  that  was  pregnant  with  the  greatest  conse- 
quences to  political  history  was  that  of  John  Tyler,  Senator  from 
Virginia,  who,  though  not  a  Nullifier,  separated  from  Jackson  on  the 
"  Force  Bill "  of  1833,  and  was  further  disaffected  by  the  removal 
of  the  deposits,  though  he  had  held  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  to 
be  unconstitutional.  Almost  immediately,  Tyler  was  marked  as  a 
suitable  man  for  second  place  upon  an  anti-Jackson  presidential 
ticket,  that  those  States  that  supported  Judge  Hugh  L.  White  against 
Van  Buren  made  him  their  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency  in 
1836.  Furthermore,  Louis  McLane  was  morally  dismissed  from  the 
State  Department  by  the  summary  expulsion  of  Duane  from  the 
Treasury,  and  the  prosecution  of  the  removal  project  to  the  finish ; 
and  though  he  had  been  the  incumbent  of  the  English  mission  and 
of  the  two  ranking  Cabinet  offices  under  Jackson,  he  was  numbered 
with  the  throng  of  bolting  Democrats  that  helped  to  elect  William 
Henry  Harrison  to  the  Presidency  in  1840. 


PRESIDENT. 
MARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  New  York. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
RICHARD  M.  JOHNSON,  Kentucky. 


March  4,  1837,  to  March  4,  1841. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
JOHN  FORSYTH,  of  Georgia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
J.  L.  MARTIN  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1841. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

LEVI  WOODBURY,  of  New  Hampshire;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
McCLiNTOCK  YOUNG  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1841. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOEL  R.  POINSETT,  of  South  Carolina,  March  7,  1837. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
FELIX  GRUNDY,  of  Tennessee,  July  5,  1838,  to  take  effect  September  i,  1838. 
HENRY  D.  GALPIN,  of  Pennsylvania,  January  n,  1840. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

AMOS  KENDALL,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  M.  NILES,  of  Connecticut,  May  19,  1840. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

MAHLON  DICKERSON,  of  New  Jersey;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  K.  PAULDING,  of  New  York,  June  25,  1838. 


97 


VAN  BUREN. 

It  had  been  given  out  that  Van  Buren's  administration  would  be 

continuation  of  Jackson's,  and  was  taken  for  granted  that  the 
existing  Cabinet  would  be  retained.  However,  General  Cass,  who 
had  not  been  efficient  as  a  Department  Head,  had  quitted  the  War 
Office  for  the  French  Mission,  and  the  vacancy  had  been  left  for  the 
in-coming  President  to  fill.  Some  instructive  advice  was  given  about 
the  matter  by  Judge  Richard  E.  Parker  of  Virginia.1  In  addition 
to  reiterating  Jackson's  rule  that  presidential  aspirants  are  ineligible 
to  Cabinet  office,  it  was  urged  that  a  slave-holding  State  must  re- 
ceive the  vacant  portfolio.  Apparently,  this  is  the  earliest  spoken 
demand  for  a  sectional  balance  in  the  Executive.  The  new  Secre- 
tary of  War  was  found  in  the  person  of  Joel  R.  Poinsett  of  South 
Carolina,  who  had  been  a  Representative  in  Congress,  and  Minister 
to  Mexico.  A  large  factor  in  this  selection  was  the  service  that 
Poinsett  had  rendered  Jackson  in  dealing  with  Nullification. 

Van  Buren  did  not  adopt  the  fashion,  that  had  obtained  during 
his  own  secretaryship,  of  dispensing  with  the  Cabinet  College. 
Within  ten  days  after  his  inauguration,  he  held  a  meeting  of  Depart- 
ment Heads,  when  he  submitted  questions  concerning  the  settlement 
of  the  North-Eastern  Boundary.  Soon  afterwards,  he  prepared  a 
Cabinet  paper  that  he  did  not  submit ;  because,  as  he  endorsed  upon 
it,  "  I  decided  to  take  the  entire  responsibility,  and  had,  moreover, 
reason  to  believe  that  the  Cabinet  would  be  divided  upon  the  sub- 
ject/' But  a  little  later,  he  held  a  consultation  at  which  he  took 
opinions  upon  certain  matters  growing  out  of  the  Treasury  Order 
of  1836,  and  upon  calling  an  extra  session  of  Congress.2 

Speaking  doubtless  of  departmental  affairs,  a  later  member  of  the 
Executive,  George  Bancroft,  the  historian,  said  that  Van  Buren  left 

1  Van  Buren  MSS.,  R.  E.  Parker  to  Van  Buren,  February  7,  1837. 

2  Van  Buren  MSS.,  Cabinet  Papers,  March  14,  24,  May — . 

99 


ioo  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

his  Secretaries  for  three  years  to  act  much  upon  their  own  responsi- 
bility, and  that  his  course  was  full  of  reverses ;  but  that  in  his  fourth 
year,  he  made  himself  the  head  and  centre,  and  the  administration 
closed  admirably.3 

But  Van  Buren  had  stronger  and  equally  trusted  advisers  outside 
of  his  official  household.  Judge  Parker  of  Virginia  continued  to  be 
a  confidential  correspondent.  Silas  Wright  of  New  York,  who  had 
charge  of  the  Independent  Treasury  measure  in  the  Senate,  stood 
high  in  favor.  And  Chief  Justice  Taney,  on  one  occasion,  almost 
did  an  official  counsellor's  part,  by  submitting,  in  great  confidence, 
a  long  written  opinion  on  the  plan  for  an  Independent  Treasury.4 
But  the  real  Mentor  was  Jackson,  who  in  retirement  at  the  Hermitage, 
played  the  role  of  sage  to  Van  Buren's  administration,  even  more 
perfectly  .than  Jefferson  had  done  to  Madison's. 

To  the  changes  of  personnel  in  this  Cabinet,  special  interest  at- 
taches, both  for  personal  reasons  and  the  enunciation  of  new  prin- 
ciples. About  the  middle  of  Van  Buren's  term  of  office,  Secretary 
Woodbury,  who  had  assumed  the  Treasury  portfolio  between  five 
and  six  years  before,  applied  the  rotation  principle  to  himself,  and 
volunteered  to  resign.  There  was,  he  said,  a  general  feeling  in  the 
East,  in  favor  of  rotation  in  office,  and  short  terms  of  service,  which 
he  was  reluctant  to  disregard,  for  fear  of  arousing  dissatisfaction 
among  his  friends.  Accordingly  he  proposed  to  give  way  to  some 
other  eastern  democrat,  and  relieve  the  administration  of  a  cause 
of  "  constant  and  virulent  assault."  r  Woodbury  was  not  permitted 
to  resign.  But  the  rotation  principle  was  applied  to  the  Cabinet 
within  a  very  few  years. 

In  the  summer  of  1838,  changes  occurred  in  the  Attorney-General- 
ship and  the  Navy.  Desiring  to  keep  one  of  the  portfolios  in  the 
Empire  State,  Van  Buren  tendered  the  Navy  to  Washington  Irving, 
observing  in  the  choice  of  a  literary  man,  a  fashion  that  Jackson  had 
introduced  in  the  diplomatic  and  consular  services.  Irving  declined 
in  words  that  showed  that  Cabinet  office  would  be  persecution  to  his 

8  M.  A.  DeWolfe  Howe,  Life  and  Letters  of  George  Bancroft,  II,  225. 

*  Van  Buren  MSS.,  Taney  to  Van  Buren,  July  20,  1837. 

5  Van  Buren  MSS.,  Woodbury  to  Van  Buren,  September  8,  1839. 


VAN  BUREN.  101 

sensitive  temperament,  at  the  same  time  professing  a  deep  fascination 
with  naval  affairs.8  The  Department  was  filled  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  James  K.  Paulding,  who  also  was  known  chiefly  as  a  man  of 
letters,  but  had  held  office  at  the  port  of  New  York,  and  had  shown 
some  aptitude  for  politics. 

In  the  resignation  of  Benjamin  F.  Butler  from  the  office  of 
Attorney-General,  the  administration  lost  a  strong  man,  and  one 
who  had  to  be  taken  account  of  in  dealing  with  New  York,  when 
the  Democrats  returned  to  power  under  Polk.  For  some  time,  Mr. 
Butler  dicharged  the  duties  of  Attorney-General  as  a  non-resident, 
after  the  fashion  of  earlier  years.  The  office,  after  being  declined 
by  Judge  Parker  of  Virginia,  was  accepted  by  Felix  Grundy  of 
Tennessee,  who,  however,  resumed  his  seat  in  the  Senate  a  year  and 
a  half  later.  James  Buchanan  of  Pennsylvania  was  then  given  an 
opportunity  to  quit  the  Senate  for  the  Attorney-Generalship,  but 
considered  the  inducement  too  small ;  whereupon  Henry  D.  Gilpin 
of  Pennsylvania,  previously  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury,  succeeded 
Judge  Grundy. 

At  the  approach  of  the  presidential  campaign  of  1840,  there  was 
introduced  the  oft  revived  fashion  of  the  retirement  of  the  Post- 
master-General. For  Kendall  found  his  health  inadequate  to  directing 
a  Department  and  at  the  same  time  serving  as  chief  campaign  mana- 
ger. Jackson,  while  regretting  his  favorite's  retirement,  in  a  letter 
to  the  President,  cheerfully  remarked  that  he  would  be  more  useful 
to  their  cause,  where  he  had  gone.  And  the  Globe  announced  in  an 
extra  that  Mr.  Amos  Kendall  would  write  its  editorials  for  a  time. 

The  increased  importance  that  had  attached  to  the  political  side 
of  an  administration,  since  Jacksonism  had  rooted  up  the  earlier 
precedents,  is  expressed  in  a  most  unkind  aspersion  cast  upon  the 
Van  Buren  Cabinet,  by  a  fellow  Democrat,  at  the  next  presidential 
election.  "  I  saw  that  Van  Buren  had  made  a  bad  beginning.  For- 
syth  was  too  selfish  to  love  any  man,  and  Woodbury  ditto.  Old 
Dickerson  was  an  imbecile.  Kendall's  vanity  and  self-consequence 
had  already  begun  to  act  fatally  upon  that  mass  of  individuals 
attached  to  and  affiliated  with  his  department.  The  fatal  secret  was 

a  Van  Buren  MSS.,  Washington  Irving  to  Van  Buren,  April  30,  1838. 


IO2  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

at  once  disclosed  that  these  men  did  not  love  Van  and  that  they 
only  regarded  themselves  as  loci  tenentes  who  were  entitled  to  their 
pay." '  And  a  less  caustic  critic  said  that  if  Van  Buren  had  changed 
his  Cabinet,  and  selected  young,  talented,  and  ambitious  men,  he 
would  never  have  been  turned  out,  but  that  he  had  old  men  about 
him,  who  loved  ease  as  well  as  himself.8 

That  the  Van  Buren  Cabinet  was  inert,  and  without  strong  fol- 
lowing is  a  true  characterization.  It  forms  one  of  the  neutral  spots 
in  the  history  of  administrations. 

7  Polk  MSS.,  A.  Balch  to  Polk,  December  2,  1844. 

8  Curtis,  Life  of  James  Buchanan,  I,  609,  F.  W.  Pickens  to  Buchanan,  July  5, 
1846. 


PRESIDENT. 
WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON,  Ohio.     (Died  April  4,  1841.) 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
JOHN  TYLER,  Virginia. 


March  4,  1841,  to  April  4,  1841. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

J.  L.  MARTIN  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1841. 
DANIEL  WEBSTER,  of  Massachusetts,  March  5,  1841. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

MCCLINTOCK  YOUNG  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1841. 
THOMAS  EWING,  of  Ohio,  March  5,  1841. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 
JOHN  BELL,  of  Tennessee,  March  5,  1841. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 
JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN,  of  Kentucky,  March  5,  1841. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 
SELAH  R.  HOBBIE,  of  New  York  (First  Assistant  Postmaster-General),  ad 

interim,  March  4,  1841. 
FRANCIS  GRANGER,  of  New  York,  March  6,  1841. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 
GEORGE  E.  BADGER,  of  North  Carolina,  March  5,  1841. 


103 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON. 

The  administration  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  lasting,  as  it  did, 
but  a  single  month,  is  important  only  as  an  introduction  to  the  ex- 
traordinary chapter  of  Cabinet  history  that  is  associated  with  the 
name  of  John  Tyler.  And  it  is  in  its  relations  to  Henry  Clay,  Tyler's 
great  antagonist,  that  it  should  be  viewed. 

General  Harrison  was  a  presidential  candidate,  whom  the  Whig 
managers,  especially  Thurlow  Weed,  had  preferred  for  his  popular 
military  career  and  his  negative  record  in  public  life  over  the  states- 
men of  their  party.  Inasmuch  as  his  congressional  career  ante- 
dated the  Jackson  era,  his  position  on  current  issues  was  somewhat 
ill  defined.  But  he  had  been  known  to  express  his  approval  of 
Clay.  Elected  to  the  Presidency  at  an  advanced  age,  he  announced 
that  he  would  not  stand  for  another  term  of  office,  conformably  to 
the  single  term  rule,  which  the  Whigs  were  promulgating  at  the 
time.  With  regard  to  forming  an  administration,  he  inclined  more 
to  the  ideas  of  the  early  Republicans  than  to  those  of  Jackson ;  and 
singled  out  for  members  of  his  official  household,  regardless  of  their 
rivalries,  the  statesmen  who  had  stood  in  the  front  ranks  of  the 
Government  opposition  during  the  past  twelve  years. 

The  State  portfolio  seemed  to  appertain  to  Clay,  both  by  his 
acknowledged  leadership  in  the  party,  and  his  previous  incumbency ; 
while  Webster,  thus  relegated  to  second  place,  was  marked  for  the 
Treasury  by  his  chairmanship  of  the  Senate  Committee  of  Finance. 

Approaching  with  great  tact,  the  chieftain  from  whom  he  had 
taken  the  nomination,  Harrison  brought  about  an  interview  at 
Franfort,  Kentucky,  about  a  month  after  the  election.  He  there 
made  him  an  officer  of  the  State  Department,  to  find  that  the  head- 
ship of  the  Cabinet  had  yielded  its  attractions  to  the  leadership  of 
the  Senate.  Clay,  however,  urged  the  appointment  of  Webster, 
declaring  that  no  W7hig  President  could  overlook  him,  not  even  him- 
self, had  he  been  in  that  position.1 

1  Works  of  Clay,  Ed.  1904,  V,  446 ;  Clay  to  Francis  Brooke,  December  8,  1840. 

105 


io6  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

On  December  i,  a  choice  of  the  State  and  Treasury  Departments 
was  tendered  to  the  statesman  from  Massachusetts,  with  the  infor- 
mation that  the  former  had  already  been  declined  by  his  rival,  and 
that  the  latter  was  originally  intended  for  himself.  On  the  nth, 
Webster  accepted  the  Department  of  State,  explaining  that  he  was 
not  attracted  to  the  detail  of  the  Treasury,  and  that  the  great  matters 
of  that  department  would  come  before  all  the  members  of  the  admin- 
istration, as  Cabinet  questions.2 

At  this  point,  Clay's  influence  seems  to  have  ceased ;  for  persons 
were  not  lacking  to  make  the  President-elect  sensitive  to  dictation. 
Yet  it  must  have  been  as  a  proxy  for  the  party  leader  that  John  J. 
Crittenden,  the  junior  Senator  from  Kentucky,  was  selected  to  be 
Attorney-General. 

With  regard  to  the  Treasury,  Clay's  views  were  positively  set  at 
naught.  Thomas  Ewing  of  Ohio  had  originally  been  slated  for  the 
Postmaster-Generalship,  and  the  chieftain  had  not  objected  to  assign- 
ing that  office  to  the  North-West.  But  influences  from  the  North 
availed  to  shift  Ewing's  name  to  the  Treasury.  For  this  portfolio, 
Clay  had  selected  John  M.  Clayton  of  Delaware,  as  a  borderer 
known  to  be  acceptable  to  the  South  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in 
passing  the  Compromise  Tariff  of  1833.  Should  Pennsylvania  pre- 
vail, however, — and  she  was  advocating  John  Sergeant,  one  of  her 
Representatives,  for  the  Treasury, — Clay  would  at  least  have  the 
Navy  Department  for  Clayton.3  But  it  was  Ewing  that  became  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  while  Delaware's  ex-Senator  received  nothing. 

Two  of  the  Cabinet  appointments  reflect  particularly  the  hetero- 
geneousness  of  the  body  of  voters  that  had  made  Harrison  President. 
Representative  John  Bell  of  Tennessee,  who  had  been  a  Jackson 
Democrat,  and  in  the  disorganized  opposition  of  1836,  had  been  a 
leading  supporter  of  White  and  Tyler,  was  selected  for  the  War 
Department.  Incidentally  to  the  gossip  in  Congressional  circles, 
Mr.  Bell  himself  had  written  to  a  friend  that  Webster  was  objecting 
to  his  appointment,  for  fear  that  he  would  make  too  much  of  a  Clay 

2  Private  Correspondence  of  Daniel  Webster,  II,  90,  93 ;  Harrison  to  Webster, 
December  I,  1840;  Webster  to  Harrison,  December  n,  1840. 

3  Clayton  MSS.,  Clay  to  Clayton,  December  17,  1840. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON.  107 

man,  and  that  Clay  was  not  enthusiastic  for  it,  for  fear  that  he  wouki 
not  make  enough  of  one. 

The  New  York  member  was  Francis  Granger.  A  seat  was  pre- 
viously offered  to  Nathaniel  P.  Tallmadge,  one  of  the  many  recruits 
from  Democrat  ranks.  But  Tallmadge  had  just  been  elected  by  his 
new  party  to  continue  in  his  old  place  in  the  Senate,  and  the  cir- 
cumstance held  him  to  his  seat  there  the  more  firmly.  Francis 
Granger  had  been  an  Anti-Mason,  and  was  now  beginning  to  be 
classed  with  the  abolitionists.  In  1836,  he  had  been  the  candidate 
for  the  Vice-Presidency,  in  most  of  the  States  that  had  supported 
General  Harrison  for  the  first  place,  and  on  the  Massachusetts 
ticket,  his  name  had  been  coupled  with  Webster's.  He  became 
Postmaster-General  in  Harrison's  Cabinet,  being  the  son  of  Gideon 
Granger,  who  enjoyed  a  long  and  somewhat  notorious  incumbency 
of  the  same  office,  without  a  Cabinet  seat,  under  Jefferson  and 
Madison. 

The  Navy  portfolio  fell  to  the  South  by  the  sectional  rule,  and  the 
particular  man  was  left  to  the  choice  of  the  Congressional  delega- 
tions. One  of  the  names  proposed  was  that  of  William  C.  Preston, 
Senator  from  South  Carolina.  And,  inasmuch  as  the  expected  Bank 
measure  had  an  uncertain  majority  in  the  Senate,  a  story  went  forth 
among  its  opponents,  that  it  was  the  fear  that  Preston's  resignation 
would  cause  a  tie,  and  throw  the  casting  vote  to  Vice-President 
Tyler,  that  prevented  his  appointment.  George  Badger  of  North 
Carolina  was  finally  selected  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  factional  forecast  for  the  administration  was  that  Clay,  who 
already  had  an  alter  ego  in  Crittenden,  would  also  gain  control  over 
Ewing,  Bell,  and  Badger,  while  Granger  followed  the  lead  of  Web- 
ster. But  Clay  had  not  achieved  his  triumph,  when  Harrison  died. 
He  had,  in  fact,  suffered  much  embarrassment  from  the  knowledge 
that  political  enemies  were  putting  the  President  upon  his  guard,  in 
the  apportionment  of  offices,  the  principal  business  accomplished. 
The  delicate  subject  had  come  up  between  the  two  both  in  conversa- 
tion and  correspondence.  It  is  a  very  pertinent  question,  whether 
the  uncertainty  of  Clay's  ascendency  in  this  administration  does  not 
throw  much  light  upon  the  strange  course  of  the  next  President 
towards  his  inherited  Cabinet. 


PRESIDENT. 
JOHN  TYLER,  Virginia. 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
SAMUEL  L.  SOUTHARD,  New  Jersey. 
WILLIAM  P.  MANGUM,  North  Carolina. 


April  4,  1841,  to  March  4,  1845. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  Harrison's  Administra- 
tion. 

HUGH  S.  LEGARE,  of  South  Carolina  (Attorney-General),  ad  interim,  May  9, 
1843. 

WILLIAM  S.  DERRICK  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  June  20,  1843. 

ABEL  P.  UPSHUR,  of  Virginia  (Secretary  of  the  Navy),  ad  interim,  June  24, 
1843. 

ABEL  P.  UPSHUR,  of  Virginia,  July  24,  1843. 

JOHN  NELSON,  of  Maryland  (Attorney-General),  ad  interim,  February  29, 
1844- 

JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  of  South  Carolina,  March  6,  1844. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

THOMAS  EWING,  of  Ohio ;  continued  from  Harrison's  Administration. 
McCLiNTOCK  YOUNG  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  September  13,  1841. 
WALTER  FORWARD,  of  Pennsylvania,  September  13,  1841. 
MCCLINTOCK  YOUNG  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  I,  1843. 
JOHN  C.  SPENCER,  of  New  York,  March  3,  1843. 
MCCLINTOCK  YOUNG  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  May  2,  1844. 
GEORGE  M.  BIBB,  of  Kentucky,  June  15,  1844. 

SECRETARY  or  WAR. 

JOHN  BELL,  of  Tennessee;  continued  from  Harrison's  Administration. 
ALBERT  M.  LEA,  of  Maryland  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  September  12,  1841. 
JOHN  C.  SPENCER,  of  New  York,  October  12,  1841. 
JAMES  M.  PORTER,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  8,  1843. 
WILLIAM  WILKINS,  of  Pennsylvania,  February  15,  1844. 

109 


no  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 

JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  Harrison's  Administration. 
HUGH  S.  LEGARE,  of  South  Carolina,  September  13,  1841. 
JOHN  NELSON,  of  Maryland,  July  I,  1843. 

POSTMASTER- GENERAL. 

FRANCIS  GRANGER,  of  New  York;  continued  from  Harrison's  Administration. 
CHARLES  A.  WICKLIFFE,  of  Kentucky,  September  13,  1841. 
SELAH  R.  HOBBIE,  of  New  York  (First  Assistant  Postmaster- General),  ad 
interim,  September  14,  1841. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

GEORGE  E.  BADGER,  of  North  Carolina;  continued  from  Harrison's  Adminis- 
tration. 

JOHN  D.  SIMMS  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  September  12,  1841. 
ABEL  P.  UPSHUR,  of  Virginia,  September  13,  1841. 
DAVID  HENSHAW,  of  Massachusetts,  July  24,  1843. 
THOMAS  W.  GILMER,  of  Virginia,  February  15,  1844. 
LEWIS  WARRINGTON  (Captain,  U.  S.  N.),  ad  interim,  February  29,  1844. 
JOHN  Y.  MASON,  of  Virginia,  March  14,  1844. 


TYLER. 

More  than  ordinary  institutional  significance  attaches  to  the  Tyler 
administration,  in  that  it  put  to  the  test,  and  vindicated,  the  authority 
of  accidental  Presidents  over  the  Cabinet  officers.  This  was  ac- 
complished, moreover,  by  means  of  a  manoeuvre  on  the  President's 
part,  that  of  itself  gives  the  administration  a  unique  interest. 

The  summoning  of  a  special  session  of  Congress,  by  President 
Harrison,  agreeably  to  the  wishes  of  Clay,  to  take  account  of  the 
fiscal  situation,  the  past  record  of  Mr.  Tyler,  as  a  States-Rights' 
Democrat  on  the  Bank  question,  and  his  assumption  of  the  duties  of 
President,  before  the  special  session  had  convened,  assured  a  crisis 
from  the  outset. 

This  famous  controversy  needs  to  be  reviewed  only  in  outline, 
April  9,  1841,  President  Tyler  published  an  Inaugural  Address,  in 
which  he  promised  to  sanction  any  Constitutional  measure  for  the 
restoration  of  a  sound  circulating  medium ;  and  referred  to  the  ever 
glorious  example  of  the  fathers  of  the  great  Republican  school  as 
the  authorities  upon  whom  he  should  base  his  opinions.1  This  was 
followed,  June  I,  by  the  Special  Session  Message,  which  discussed 
the  fiscal  methods  previously  employed  by  the  Government,  with 
the  objections  to  each,  and  pledged  the  President's  concurrence  in 
some  system  to  be  devised  by  Congress,  reserving  to  the  President 
the  ultimate  power  to  reject  any  measure  which  conflicted  with  the 
Constitution,  or  jeopardized  the  prosperity  of  the  country.2  On  the 
next  day,  the  report  from  the  Treasury  by  Secretary  Ewing — for 
Tyler  had  retained  the  Harrison  Cabinet  throughout — went  so  far  as 
to  recommend  the  restoration  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
qualifying  that  proposition,  however,  with  the  stipulation  that  such 
institution  must  be  so  "  conceived  in  principle  and  guarded  in  its 

1  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  IV,  39. 

2  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  IV,  40. 

in 


H2  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

details  "  as  to  remove  the  scruples  touching  the  question  of  Consti- 
tutional power,  which  some  wise  and  patriotic  statesmen  were  known 
to  entertain.3  June  7,  the  Treasury  Department  received  a  call  from 
the  Senate  for  a  definite  fiscal  plan,  this  action  on  the  part  of  the 
Upper  House  being  pursuant  to  the  adoption  of  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions presented  by  Clay  as  an  outline  of  the  business  before  the 
session.4  June  12,  a  special  report  was  submitted  by  Secretary 
Ewing  in  response  to  the  call.  This  document  covered  a  bill  for  the 
incorporation  of  a  fiscal  bank,  to  be  situated  in  the  District  of  Col- 
umbia, and  to  be  dependent  upon  the  will  of  the  States  for  per- 
mission to  establish  branches.  The  measure  had  been  prepared  after 
consultation  between  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the  President, 
as  to  those  features  which  involved  Mr.  Tyler's  views  concerning 
Federal  corporations  operating  over  the  States.  June  21,  the  select 
committee,  created  to  take  the  measure  in  charge,  with  Clay  for 
chairman,  reported  in  its  stead,  a  bill  to  incorporate  a  bank  exer- 
cising such  powers  as  had  been  granted  in  the  charter  that  Jackson 
vetoed  nearly  ten  years  before,  and  calculated  to  make  a  direct  issue 
with  the  doubtful  whiggism  of  Tyler/  A  series  of  attempts  were 
made  to  graft  onto  this  certain  features  of  the  bill  that  the  com- 
mittee had  pigeon-holed,  and  it  bore  a  semblance  of  recognition  of 
the  "  states-rights  "  view  of  certain  points,  when  it  reached  the  Presi- 
dent. On  August  16,  came  the  President's  veto.6 

A  procedure  was  now  resorted  to,  to  fix  up  an  understanding  be- 
tween President  Tyler  and  Congress  that  was  most  extraordinary 
when  compared  with  present  modes  of  communication.  The  Presi- 
dent refused  to  hold  personal  interviews  with  members  of  Congress, 
but  allowed  the  Secretaries  to  act  as  a  go-between.  He  all  along 
avowed  the  greatest  consideration  for  a  peculiar  sensitiveness  in  Con- 
gress about  dictation  by  the  President.  The  Whigs  themselves  had 
become  responsible  for  an  exaggerated  form  of  this  doctrine,  in  their 
quarrel  with  Jackson;  and  Harrison  had  proclaimed  it  in  his  In- 

3  Senate  Documents,  First  Session,  Twenty-Seventh  Congress. 

4  Senate  Documents,  First  Session,  Twenty-Seventh   Congress. 
3  Senate  Documents,  First  Session,  Twenty- Seventh  Congress. 

0  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  IV,  63. 


TYLER.  113 

augural  Address/  President  Tyler  held  a  Cabinet  meeting  August 
18.  And  the  understanding  was  reached  that  he  would  sanction  a 
fiscal  institution  dealing  in  foreign  exchanges,  but  not  in  local  dis- 
counts, the  former  being  defensible  under  the  power  of  Congress  to 
regulate  foreign  and  inter-State  commerce.  And  furthermore,  the 
two  leading  Secretaries,  Webster  of  the  State  Department  and  Ewing 
of  the  Treasury,  were  delegated  to  confer  with  members  of  Congress 
with  reference  to  introducing  a  new  measure.  It  so  happened  that 
during  the  struggle  over  the  charter  drawn  by  Clay,  a  bill  had  been 
put  into  the  House  of  Representatives  that  followed  the  plan  from  the 
Treasury  more  closely.  This  was  now  revised ;  and  the  name  "Fiscal 
Corporation  "  adopted,  instead  of  "  Fiscal  Bank."  The  measure  was 
not  allowed  to  go  through  Clay's  hands  in  the  Senate,  but  was  given 
to  a  new  committee.  President  Tyler  received  the  bill  on  September 
5,  and  vetoed  it  on  the  Qth,  the  main  objection  being  that  the  power 
to  deal  in  outside  exchanges  was  so  defined  as  to  make  room  for 
local  discounts.8 

The  question  was  now  fully  before  the  Whigs,  what  leader  they 
would  acknowledge.  Two  days  after  the  veto,  four  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  Ewing,  Crittenden,  Bell  and  Badger,  resigned,  one  after 
the  other.  The  adjournment  of  Congress  being  at  hand,  successors 
were  at  once  nominated  and  confirmed.  The  resignation  of  Granger 
followed.  But  Webster  clung  to  his  portfolio.  Before  the  adjourn- 
ment, a  caucus  of  Whigs  adopted  an  address  to  the  party,  both 
repudiating  Tyler,  and  proposing  to  restrict  the  powers  of  the  Presi- 
dential office.  The  appointment  and  removal  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  should  be  put  into  the  hands  of  Congress,  and  the 
veto  power  limited.  At  the  next  session,  the  declaration  bore  re- 
sults in  the  form  of  resolutions  to  amend  the  Constitution,  which  the 
anti-Tyler  Whigs  had  not  a  large  enough  majority  to  carry.9 

The  significance  of  this  passage  in  the  history  of  the  Executive 
does  not  depend  upon  the  question,  whether  the  President  dealt  with 
the  Cabinet  by  fair  means  or  foul.  And  yet  it  is  interesting  to  place 

7  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  IV,  9. 

8  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  IV,  68. 
"Ames,  Proposed  Amendments  to   the  Constitution,   135. 

8 


H4  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

over  against  each  other  the  two  sides  of  the  case,  set  forth  in  the 
letters  of  the  Cabinet  officers,  on  the  one  hand,10  and,  on  the  other, 
in  the  Biography-Apology  of  President  Tyler  by  his  son,  Doctor 
Lyon  G.  Tyler.11 

The  gravamen  of  the  offence  charged  by  the  retiring  Secretaries, 
was  first,  that  they  had  been  the  victims  of  a  game  of  fast  and 
k>ose,  and,  second,  that  the  President  had  misused  the  veto  power. 
Mr.  Ewing,  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  been  the  most  directly 
exposed  to  this  unconventional  treatment.  In  his  letter  of  resigna- 
tion, he  passed  over  everything  relating  to  the  first  bill  with  the 
concession  that  the  Clay  measure  was  too  much  of  a  challenge  to 
the  President.  But  he  charged  that,  in  the  management  of  the 
Fiscal  Corporation  Act,  he  had  been  treated  with  "  personal  indig- 
nity." He  had  been  requested  to  communicate  with  members  of 
Congress ;  Congress  had  acted  upon  the  faith  of  such  communica- 
tion ;  and  the  measure  had  been  vetoed  without  word  of  apology. 
The  Apologist  for  Mr.  Tyler,  on  the  other  hand,  makes  a  strong 
point  of  the  plea  that  the  plan  from  the  Treasury  was  the  Secretary's 
plan,  not  the  President's.  And  he  enters  the  second  claim,  that  the 
President  had  not  committed  himself  to  the  Fiscal  Corporation  Act. 
Granted  that  he  had  delegated  his  two  principal  Secretaries  to  assist 
in  getting  a  measure  before  Congress,  he  had  reserved  fair  means 
of  retreat.12 

The  most  satisfactory  explanation  of  President  Tyler's  course 
is  that  it  was  a  make-shift,  perhaps  not  a  consciously  pre-conceived 
one,  to  sift  the  Cabinet,  and  to  test  its  members,  as  to  which  master 
they  would  serve.  Mr.  Tyler  had  succeeded  to  the  Presidency  with 
a  most  uncertain  following,  as  is  shown  by  the  very  manner  and 
purpose  of  his  nomination  for  the  Vice-Presidency.13  No  one  doubts 
that  he  desired  a  second  term  of  office.  And  he  was  confronted  with 
the  task  of  building  up  a  party.  The  immediate  dismissal  of  the  Har- 
rison Secretaries  would  have  been  impolitic,  because  Cabinets  had 

10  Niles  Register,  LXI,  33-35,  S3,  54- 

u  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  II,  29-121. 

12  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  II,  82,  86 ;  Niles  Register,  LXI,  54. 

"Thurlow  Weed  Barnes,  Life  of  Thurlow  Weed,  II,  77. 


TYLER.  115 

hitherto  changed  with  the  party  and  not  with  the  President.  Further- 
more, under  the  existing  alignment  of  factions,  their  political  allegi- 
ance was  not  fully  determined.  The  Cabinet  rupture  gave  the 
President  the  full  possession  of  the  Executive  and  the  support  of 
the  most  important  Secretary. 

One  element  in  the  estrangement  between  the  President  and  Sec- 
retaries was  the  fact  that  Mr.  Tyler  had  immediately  surrounded 
himself  with  a  "  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  composed  of  a  coterie  of  political 
and  personal  friends  from  his  own  State.  Perhaps  with  too  much 
consciousness  that  the  sceptre  had  returned  to  Virginia,  this  group 
made  itself  so  conspicuous  as  to  arouse  the  jealousy  of  the  official 
Cabinet.  Henry  A.  Wise,  Thomas  H.  Gilmer,  and  Francis  Mallory, 
all  Representatives,  were  of  the  number;  also  W.  C.  Rives,  in  the 
Senate.  Outside  of  Congress,  there  were  Judge  Beverly  Tucker, 
and  Thomas  R.  Dew,  President  of  William  and  Mary  College.  The 
sarcastic  references  to  the  "  Virginia  schoolmasters  "  in  the  corres- 
pondence of  the  Clayites  were  probably  inspired  by  the  latter  gentle- 
man's profession. 

With  his  Constitutional  advisers,  Tyler  preserved  the  outward 
forms  of  formal  intercourse,  observing  Wednesday  as  Cabinet  day; 
but  some  of  his  important  steps  he  did  not  confide  to  them.  The 
"  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  on  the  other  hand,  were  in  such  close  confidence 
that  they  were  regarded  as  his  inspirers.  Indeed  Wise  would  have  it 
appear  that  he  knew  the  President's  purposes  better  than  the  Pres- 
ident did  himself. 

Tyler's  newspaper  organ,  the  Madisonian,  set  up  the  cry  that 
the  President  had  been  deserted  in  a  most  trying  hour  ;14  and  Lyon  G. 
Tyler  has  seen  fit  to  echo  this.15  It  is  true  that  the  resignations  were 
planned  under  Clay's  inspiration,  the  occasion  being  a  gathering  at 
the  house  of  Secretary  Badger,  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the  sec- 
ond veto.16  Webster  obtained  the  consent  of  the  Massachusetts  dele- 
gation, to  his  remaining  in  office,  the  prospect  of  his  being  able  to 
settle  the  North-Eastern  Boundary  question  being  urged  in  justifica- 

14  Van  Tyne,  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,  238. 

15  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  II,  no. 
"Webster's  Private  Correspondence,  II,  no. 


n6  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

tion.17  A  report  that  Granger  would  also  remain  was  spread  abroad 
on  the  Sunday  that  intervened  between  the  other  resignations  and  his. 
And  some  mystery  attached  to  the  resignation  of  Bell,  whose  allegi- 
ance to  Clay  had  also  been  doubtful.  It  was  reported  that  he  sub- 
mitted to  pressure  that  the  great  chieftain  was  able  to  exert  upon 
the  Congressmen  from  Tennessee.  His  letter  of  resignation  was 
hardly  that  of  a  man  acting  upon  his  own  convictions.  But  indica- 
tions are  not  lacking  that  the  President  was  making  ready  to  fill 
up  the  gaps  so  soon  as  they  should  occur.  The  promptness  with 
which  he  submitted  a  new  list  of  appointments  indicates  that  he  was 
not  unprepared.  More  convincing  proof  is  gleaned  from  the  cor- 
respondence of  interested  parties.  About  ten  days  before  the  sec- 
ond veto,  Reverdy  Johnson  of  Maryland,  afterwards  a  member  of  the 
Taylor  Cabinet,  had  written  to  Crittenden,  the  Attorney-General, 
that  an  agent  of  the  President's  had  appeared  at  Baltimore,  and  had 
been  in  conference  with  Judge  Abel  P.  Upshur  and  other  gentlemen, 
and  that  it  was  suspected  that  a  new  Cabinet  was  being  formed.18 
Furthermore,  Henry  A.  Wise  had  written,  on  August  29,  just  as  the 
Fiscal  Corporation  Bill  was  going  to  the  Senate :  "  We  are  on  the  eve 
of  a  Cabinet  rupture.  With  some  of  them  we  want  to  part  friendly. 
We  can  part  friendly  with  Webster  by  sending  him  to  England.  Let 
us  for  God's  sake  get  rid  of  him  on  the  best  terms  we  can.18  Wise's 
characteristic  heat  of  expression  is  seen  here.  Tyler  did  not  wish 
to  part  company  with  Webster  at  this  time.  He  declared  afterwards, 
however,  that  he  could  have  obtained  a  new  Secretary  of  State,  and 
an  able  one,  if  Webster  also  had  gone  after  Clay,  which  we  take  to  be 
an  allusion  to  Judge  Upshur,  who  became  Secretary  of  the  Navy  at 
first,  but  was  afterwards  elevated  to  the  State  Department.20  Years 
after  the  event,  Wise  wrote  that  the  rest  of  the  Cabinet,  except  Web- 
ster, retired,  "  knowing  full  well  that,  if  they  had  not  bowed  them- 
selves out,  they  would  have  been  shown  the  door."5  But  it  is 

17  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  XI,  13,  14. 

18  Coleman,  Life  of  J.  J.  Crittenden,  I,  160. 
u  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  II,  90. 

20  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  II,  97. 

21  Wise,  Seven  Decades  of  the  Union,  192. 


TYLER.  117 

thoroughly  consistent  with  Tyler's  next  political  movements,  and  a 
very  satisfactory  view  of  the  matter  on  all  accounts,  to  believe  that 
he  would  have  retained,  up  to  the  time,  when  he  made  a  radical 
change  of  policy,  as  many  of  Harrison's  Secretaries  as  would  remain 
with  him. 

The  real  significance  of  President  Tyler's  course  lies  in  its  ten- 
dency, when  it  is  viewed  as  a  Cabinet  practice  or  a  mode  of  Execu- 
tive procedure.  If  Mr.  Tyler  was  straightforward  and  consistent  in 
his  dealings  with  Mr.  Ewing,  he  at  least  disavowed  the  President's 
responsibility  for  the  policy  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  This 
was  distinctly  a  step  backward  from  the  position  reached  by  Jackson. 
And  under  the  prevailing  conception  of  the  single  responsibility  of 
the  Executive,  it  could  not  be  approved.  Neither  could  the  mode  of 
initiating  legislation  that  Tyler  resorted  to  have  fortunate  results. 
The  relation  between  the  Administration  and  Congress  would  be 
precarious  indeed,  if  the  President,  even  under  intense  pressure  and 
in  the  field  of  his  unofficial  acts,  authorized  negotiations  between  the 
two  branches  of  Government,  and  at  the  same  time  refused  to  com- 
mit himself  to  their  support. 

After  the  rupture  with  Clay,  the  Tyler  Cabinet  owes  its  interest 
entirely  to  its  varying  political  complexion.  With  the  Democrats 
disintegrated,  and  the  Whigs  unamalgamated,  the  factions  were 
never  better  arranged  for  new  combinations  than  in  1841 ;  and  pre- 
dictions were  rife  as  to  what  these  would  be.  So  early  as  April  20, 
John  Quincy  Adams  confided  to  his  Diary  that  there  would  be  an 
alliance  between  Tyler  and  Webster.22  And  Silas  Wright,  who  repre- 
sented the  Van  Buren  Democrats,  foresaw  the  same  arrangement.23 
But  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Clay  men  were  especially  apprehensive 
of  such  an  issue.24  On  June  n,  while  the  Senate  awaited  the  fiscal 
plan  from  the  Treasury,  Clay  expressed  the  contrary  fear  that  Tyler 
would  throw  himself  upon  Calhoun  and  Duff  Green,  and  desert  the 

22  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  X,  465. 

23  Van  Buren  MSS.,  Silas  Wright  to  Van  Buren,  July  10,  and  August  22. 

24  Coleman,  Life  of  J.  J.  Crittenden,  I,  161,  165 ;  R.  P.  Letcher  to  Crittenden, 
September  3,  1841;  Crittenden  to  Letcher,  September  n,  1841. 


n8  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Whigs  entirely.25  Calhoun  had  been  somewhat  of  an  Ismaelite, 
after  his  rupture  with  Jackson;  but  had  concentrated  his  forces 
upon  the  Nullification  issue.  But  Democrats  of  no  shade  or  faction 
promised  Tyler  anything  more  than  to  sustain  him  in  carrying  out 
their  principles.  Politically  he  would  have  to  give  the  surest  pledges, 
before  he  could  be  received  back  into  fellowship. 

The  first  group  of  Cabinet  appointments  was  made  entirely  from 
the  ranks  of  the  hybrid-Whigs.  A  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was 
secured  by  promoting  Walter  H.  Forward  of  Pennsylvania,  whom 
Harrison  had  made  Comptroller.  The  Attorney-General,  Hugh  S. 
Legare  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Abel  P. 
Upshur  of  Virginia,  were  Tyler's  personal  friends.  Charles  A. 
Wickliffe  of  Kentucky,  who  was  appointed  to  the  Postmaster- 
Generalship,  appears  to  have  been  named  for  Cabinet  office,  before 
it  was  assured  that  Harrison  would  approach  Clay.  For  Secretary 
of  War,  John  McLean  of  Ohio,  Postmaster-General  of  the  later 
Republican  administrations,  was  appointed;  but  refused  to  resign 
from  the  Supreme  Bench.  A  mild  Whig  from  New  York  was  then 
sought  in  the  person  of  John  C.  Spencer,  who  was  Secretary  of 
State,  with  William  H.  Seward  in  the  Governor's  chair.  Thurlow 
Weed  gives  an  interesting  account  of  a  conference  on  the  subject 
of  Spencer's  acceptance  of  a  place  in  Tyler's  service.28  Mr.  Spencer 
expressed  the  hope  that  with  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet,  he  might  bridge 
over  the  differences  between  the  President  and  the  Empire  Whigs ; 
but  his  friends,  who  knew  his  political  eccentricities,  did  not  doubt, 
that,  once  seated  he  would  zealously  espouse  Tyler's  cause.  This 
Cabinet  was  retained  so  long  as  the  administration  measures  pre- 
served a  semi- Whig  character. 

In  the  winter  of  1842-43,  the  President  sprang  an  issue  that  re- 
shaped parties  by  taking  up  the  annexation  of  Texas  and  California. 
And  the  Cabinet  changed  its  complexion  again.  Webster  was  no 
longer  desirable  for  Secretary  of  State ;  but  Caleb  Gushing,  of  the 
same  constituency  as  Webster's,  would  not  have  been  out  of  place 

25  Coleman,  Life  of  J.  J.  Crittenden,  I,  156 ;  Clay  to  Letcher. 
M  Autobiography  of  Thurlow  Weed,  517. 


TYLER.  119 

in  councils  that  were  leaning  to  the  slave  interest.  Early  in  March, 
1843,  Mr.  Forward,  who  had  proven  himself  the  least  of  Ministers 
of  Finance,27  resigned  his  portfolio;  and  Tyler  nominated  Gushing 
to  be  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  But  now  began  the  series  of  de- 
feats that  were  inflicted  upon  some  of  the  President's  particular 
friends  that  he  nominated  for  Cabinet  and  diplomatic  offices;  for, 
although  the  elections  had  been  going  strongly  Democratic,  since 
Clay's  humiliation,  Tyler  was  not  gaining  a  personal  following.  The 
manner  of  the  Cushing  appointment  is  most  curious,  in  that  the 
President  submitted  the  nomination  three  times,  in  rapid  succession, 
while  the  Senate  voted  it  down  by  27  to  19,  27  to  10,  and  finally  29 
to  2.  It  has  been  suggested,  and  seems  very  probable,  that  this  per- 
sistence on  Tyler's  part  was  a  hint  to  Webster  to  resign ;  since  the 
double  representation  of  a  State  in  the  Cabinet  was  contrary  to  the 
rules  of  the  spoils  system.  ,The  vacancy  in  the  Treasury  was  filled 
before  the  session  expired,  by  promoting  Secretary  Spencer  of  the 
War  Department. 

On  May  8,  1843,  Webster  resigned,  much  beset  by  his  friends  in 
Massachusetts  to  cease  companying  with  Tyler,  and  coldly  treated 
in  the  latter  quarter  as  well.28 

The  association  that  now  came  to  an  end  loses  much  of  its  incon- 
gruity, when  Webster's  later  sacrifices  of  principle  to  jealousy  and 
political  interest  are  called  to  mind.  And  his  justification  in  this 
instance  was  the  most  plausible  one  that  he  ever  had  to  offer.  On 
separation  from  his  colleagues  of  the  Harrison  Cabinet,  the  reason 
that  he  put  first  was  that  their  resignations  looked  too  much  like  a 
combination  between  a  Whig  Cabinet  and  Whig  Senator  to  annoy 
the  President.29  And  in  reingratiating  himself  after  his  own  resigna- 
tion, he  pleaded  that  it  had  been  his  purpose  to  hold  Tyler  as  far  as 

'"Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  III,  104;  Caleb  Cushing  to  Wise. 

28  Schouler  maintains  that  Tyler  went  so  far  in  his  unconventional  treatment 
of  Webster,  as  to  have  negotiations  with  the  Texan  Commissioners,  of  which 
the  Secretary  of  State  was  not  informed.  History  of  the  United  States,  IV, 
448.  Footnote. 

28  Private  Correspondence  of  Daniel  Webster,  II,  no;  Webster  to  Ketchum, 
September  10,  1841. 


I2O  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

possible  to  Whig  principles  and  a  Whig  administration.  But  he  was 
above  all  able  to  point  to  a  brilliant  secretaryship,  in  self  extenuation. 
The  complaint  .that  he  had  tarried  too  long,  after  negotiating  the 
Webster-Ashburton  Treaty,  which  was  ratified  in  August,  1842,  he 
met  with  the  plea  that  he  was  obliged  to  remain  through  the  next 
session  of  Congress.30  The  next  diplomatic  achievement  of  the  ad- 
ministration, the  annexation  of  Texas,  brought  Tyler  and  Calhoun 
together. 

But  a  year  of  Cabinet  vicissitudes  intervened.  The  President 
first  looked  to  his  Southern  friends  who  were  already  in  the  admin- 
istration to  fill  the  State  Department.  Attorney-General  Legare 
was  made  Secretary  ad  interim,  until  his  death  in  the  summer  of  1843 
left  two  offices  unprovided  for.  A  Secretary  of  State  was  then  se- 
cured by  promoting  Judge  Upshur  of  the  Navy  Department,  while 
the  latter  portfolio  was  assigned  to  New  England  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  David  Henshaw,  who  had  been  Collector  of  Customs  at 
Boston,  under  Jackson  and  Van  Buren.  The  War  Office,  vacated 
by  the  transfer  of  Spencer  to  the  Treasury,  just  as  the  session  was 
expiring,  had  been  filled  after  Congress  adjourned  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  James  M.  Porter  of  Pennsylvania.  And  John  Nelson  of 
Maryland  was  made  Attorney-General  to  succeed  Legare. 

This  long  list  of  vacation  appointments  caused  a  war  with  the 
Senate,  after  the  fashion  of  some  of  Jackson's  encounters.  There 
were  charges  of  connivance  to  bring  about  a  vacation  reconstruction, 
which  were  aggravated  by  the  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  public 
about  the  filling  of  the  Treasury.  The  appointments  were  communi- 
cated to  the  Senate  very  early  in  the  session,  December  6,  1843  5  and 
after  a  quarrel  that  extended  over  two  months,  Henshaw  and  Porter 
were  both  unseated  by  an  overwhelming  vote.  William  Wilkins  of 
Pennsylvania  was  then  appointed  Secretary  of  War;  and  Thomas 
W.  Gilmer,  one  of  the  "  Kitchen  Cabinet "  confidants,  became  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy. 

But  the  Cabinet  had  scarcely  been  intact  two  weeks,  when  it  was 

80  Coleman,  Life  of  J.  J.  Crittenden,  I,  204 ;  Webster  to  Letcher,  October  23, 
1843- 


TYLER.  121 

broken  up  by  .a  casualty  in  high  life.  The  United  States  vessel 
Princeton  was  making  an  experimental  trip  on  Chesapeake  Bay,  with 
a  party  of  distinguished  officials  on  board,  when  the  explosion  of 
a  gun  resulted  in  the  death  of  Secretaries  Upshur  and  Gilmer.  And 
another  important  change  was  necessitated  a  few  weeks  later  by  the 
retirement  of  Secretary  Spencer  from  the  Treasury.  On  the  Texas 
question,  Spencer  had  not  been  in  such  full  accord  with  Tyler,  as  he 
had  been  during  the  semi- Whig  period  of  the  administration.  More- 
over, he  had  been  subjected  to  great  personal  embarrassment  and 
trial  in  the  summer  of  1843,  by  the  decision  of  the  case  concerning 
the  United  States  brig  Somers.  Captain  McKenzie  of  that  vessel 
was  exonerated  for  the  execution  at  sea  of  a  party  of  mutineers,  one 
of  whom  was  Midshipman  Spencer,  Secretary  Spencer's  son;  and 
the  Cabinet  was  divided  in  its  sympathies,  McKenzie,  who  was  a 
Louisiana  Slidell,  having  influential  friends  in  the  South.  In  the 
session  of  i843-'44,  the  President  made  an  attempt  to  elevate  Spen- 
cer to  the  Supreme  Bench;  but  this  was  one  of  the  appointments 
that  the  Senate  defeated. 

The  vacancies  in  the  Cabinet  were  now  filled  entirely  by  the 
appointment  of  Southern  Democrats.  And,  although  Spencer's  re- 
tirement left  New  York  unrepresented  in  the  administration,  we 
have  found  no  evidence  that  Tyler  approached  the  Democrat  party 
there,  although  its  forth-coming  division  on  the  Texas  question 
might  have  relieved  the  coldness  with  which  he  had  been  regarded 
at  the  outset.  The  Navy  Department,  vacated  by  Gilmer's  death, 
was  offered  to  James  K.  Polk,  who  declined  entering  the  Tyler  ad- 
ministration for  its  closing  year,  although  he  was  out  of  public  life 
at  the  time.81  The  manner  of  Polk's  nomination  for  the  Presi- 
dency gives  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  was  influenced  by  any 
preparations  for  the  approaching  Democrat  National  Convention. 
The  portfolio  that  he  declined  was  accepted  by  a  personal  and  poli- 
tical friend  of  his,  John  Y.  Mason  of  Virginia. 

The  predicted  affiliation  between  Tyler  and  Calhoun  became  a 
reality  in  a  curious  way.  Calhoun  had  supported  Tyler's  actions,  in 

31  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers,  III,  133 ;  Polk  to  Theophilus  Fisk. 


122  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

so  far  as  they  conformed  to  his  own  principles ;  but  there  had  been 
no  understanding  between  them.32  In  1843,  he  retired  from  the 
Senate  to  work  up  a  presidential  propaganda  for  himself.  But 
the  project  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  to  be  followed,  perhaps,  by 
the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question,  aroused  his  deepest  interest. 
And  no  less  did  his  suitableness  for  that  work  attract  the  attention 
of  the  President's  familiars,  when  the  State  Department  was  vacated 
by  the  sudden  death  of  Upshur.  But  Tyler  himself  demurred ; 
whereupon  Wise,  who  had  all  along  regarded  Calhoun  more  kindly 
than  he  did  Webster,  took  an  unparalleled  liberty.33  He  went  to  Mc- 
Duffie,  Senator  from  South  Carolina,  and  asked  whether  Calhoun 
would  accept  the  State  portfolio.  When  communicated  to  Cal- 
houn, the  question  had  become  an  offer,  and  was  favorably  received. 
On  being  apprised  of  Wise's  action,  Tyler  acceded  to  it,  the  alternative 
being  to  cast  reproach  upon  his  favorite,  and  offend  an  important  po- 
litical faction.  However,  in  his  letter  of  official  notification  to  Cal- 
houn, the  President  gave  a  delicate  hint  as  to  what  was  expected  on 
the  political  side :  "  While  your  name  was  before  the  country,  as  a 
prominent  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  I  could  not  have  urged  this 
request,  without  committing  alike  an  offence  to  yourself  and  many 
others ;  but  now,  since  your  friends  have  withdrawn  your  name  from 
that  exciting  canvas,  I  feel  it  every  way  due  to  the  country  to  seek 
to  avail  myself,  in  the  administration  of  affairs,  of  your  high  and  ex- 
alted .talents." 34  Calhoun,  on  the  other  side,  was  half-hearted  about 
entering  the  administration;  and  raised  the  question,  when  he  was 
first  approached,  whether  he  could  not  undertake  the  pending  diplo- 
matic business  as  a  Commissioner,  without  becoming  Secretary  of 
State.35 

The  Treasury  Department  was  filled  after  Spencer's  retirement 
by  George  M.  Bibb  of  Kentucky,  who  had  supported  Calhoun  at  the 

32  Calhoun   Correspondence  in  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Historical 
Association,  1899,  II,  515;  Calhoun  to  Duff  Green,  August  31,  1842. 

33  Wise,  Seven  Decades  of  the  Union,  2.2.2. 

"Calhoun  Correspondence  in  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Historical 
Association,  1899,  II,  938. 
"Annual  Report  of  the  American  Historical  Association,  1899,  II,  573. 


TYLER. 


123 


ime  of  his  break  with  Jackson,  and  had  also  stood  with  Tyler  in  his 
opposition  to  the  Force  Bill  of  1832.  James  S.  Green  of  New 
Jersey,  had  been  previously  nominated,  but  failed  to  be  confirmed. 

After  drawing  his  Secretaries  from  almost  all  sections  of  all 
parties,  Tyler  made  a  political  failure.  The  attempt  to  make  him  a 
presidential  candidate  in  1844,  made  by  a  nondescript  convention  of 
men  that  he  had  appointed  to  office,  failed  ridiculously.  But  he  had 
shown  himself  to  be  the  head  of  the  Executive;  and  had  thwarted 
the  attempt  of  Congress  and  Cabinet  to  set  up  a  regency  over  him. 


PRESIDENT. 
JAMES  K.  POLK,  Tennessee. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
GEORGE  M.  DALLAS,  Pennsylvania. 


March  4,   1845,  to  March  4,  1849. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  of  South  Carolina;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  BUCHANAN,  of  Pennsylvania,  March,  6,  1845. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

GEORGE  M.   BIBB,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
ROBERT  J.  WALKER,  of  Mississippi,  March  6,  1845. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

WILLIAM  WILKINS,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  L.  MARCY,  of  New  York,  March  6,  1845. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 

JOHN  NELSON,  of  Maryland;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  Y.  MASON,  of  Virginia,  March  6,  1845. 
NATHAN  CLIFFORD,  of  Maine,  October  17,  1846. 
ISAAC  TOUCEY,  of  Connecticut,  June  21,  1848. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

CHARLES  A.  WICKLIFFE,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
CAVE  JOHNSON,  of  Tennessee,  March  6,  1845. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

JOHN  Y.  MASON,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
GEORGE  BANCROFT,  of  Massachusetts,  March  10,  1845. 
JOHN  Y.  MASON,  of  Virginia,  September  9,  1846. 


125 


POLK. 

Cabinet  making  began  to  assume  its  modern  complexity,  and  to 
take  on  its  full  political  significance  in  1844.  In  the  first  place,  the 
suggestion  was  now  becoming  audible  that  the  Heads  of  Departments 
must  be  changed  with  the  President.  "  The  people  want  a  Cabinet 
from  James  K.  Polk,"  was  one  of  the  answers  to  a  demand  from 
South  Carolina,  and  other  quarters,  for  the  retention  of  Calhoun  as 
Secretary  of  State.  In  the  second  place,  the  factional  problem  was 
assuming  new  proportions,  both  because  aspirants  for  the  presidential 
nomination  were  increasing  in  number,  and  because  the  old  parties 
were  beginning  to  split  up  over  the  annexation  of  Texas.  During  the 
Jackson  regime,  the  New  York  Democracy  had  been  united  in 
support  of  the  National  administration.  But  it  was  now  becoming 
divided  into  the  "  Barnburners "  and  "  Hunkers,"  the  one  wing 
being  hostile  to  annexation,  while  the  other  was  disposed  to  support 
that  policy.  The  Pennsylvania  Democrats  were  equally  divided ; 
though  the  uppermost  point  of  difference  at  the  time  seems  to  have 
been  the  rivalry  between  Buchanan  and  George  M.  Dallas. 

These  divisions  had  been  distinctly  felt  in  the  Democrat  National 
Convention,  which  was  held  at  Baltimore  late  in  May,  1844.  By 
publishing  a  letter  disapproving  the  Texas  project,  ex-President  Van 
Buren  lost  the  nomination,  which  had  been  universally  conceded  to 
him  beforehand.  And  James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee  received  it.  By 
way  of  atonement  to  the  Empire  State,  and  the  anti-annexation 
element  as  well,  Silas  Wright,  Van  Buren's  personal  and  political 
friend,  was  given  an  almost  unanimous  nomination  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency.  But  the  "  Barnburners  "  refused  to  be  conciliated  in 
that  way;  and  Mr.  Wright  declined  the  nomination,  which  was 
accordingly  passed  over  to  Pennsylvania,  in  the  person  of  George  M. 
Dallas.  It  remained  to  adjust  the  Cabinet  to  the  situation  if  possible. 

During  the  campaign,  much  capital  had  been  made  for  Mr.  Polk, 
who  was  not  a  widely  known  candidate,  out  of  the  Jackson  tradition ; 

127 


128  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

and  shortly  after  his  election,  he  repaired  to  the  Hermitage  to  take 
counsel  of  the  old  party  sage.  There  is  something  striking  in  the 
spectacle  of  Jackson,  now  within  a  few  months  of  his  death,  and 
truer  to  his  old  enmities  than  his  old  friendships  in  the  presence  of 
the  new  issue,  assisting  at  the  making  of  this  Cabinet.  The  account 
of  the  interview  which  he  wrote  to  his  former  editor,  Frank  P.  Blair, 
on  the  morning  that  Polk  departed,  deals  more  with  persons  to  be 
avoided,  than  with  those  to  be  sought.  All  aspirants  to  the  Presi- 
dency must  be  excluded  from  the  new  administration,  whence  none 
of  the  Tyler  clique,  Calhoun  clique,  or  Benton  clique  could  be  con- 
sidered. "  Tylerism  "  should  be  abandoned,  except  that  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas  should  be  completed  as  speedily  as  possible.  The  Old 
Dominion  must  not  be  offended ;  and  the  plan  to  make  an  entirely 
new  administration  might  safely  be  modified  to  the  extent  of  retaining 
John  Y.  Mason  of  that  State,  the  existing  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  on 
the  ground  that  Mr.  Mason  was  a  personal  friend  and  former  college 
mate  of  Mr.  Polk's.  Pennsylvania,  likewise,  must  not  be  offended ; 
but  the  rule  against  presidential  aspirants  was  likely  to  make  trouble 
there.1  The  electoral  college  of  Pennsylvania  had  recommended  Bu- 
chanan for  the  State  Department,  an  appointment  which  the  strict 
application  of  that  rule  would  not  permit. 

What  was  said  about  Van  Buren  and  his  friends  in  the  interview 
at  the  Hermitage,  we  do  not  know.  But  Polk  soon  entered  into  cor- 
respondence with  them ;  and  definitely  offered  the  Treasury  portfolio 
to  Silas  Wright  who  declined  it,  for  the  office  of  Governor  of  New 
York.  As  a  result  of  the  Van  Buren  counsels,  the  names  of  Ben- 
jamin F.  Butler,  formerly  Attorney-General  to  both  Jackson  and 
Van  Buren,  and  Azariah  C.  Flagg,  a  very  prominent  man  in  State 
affairs,  were  bracketed  on  the  Cabinet  slate,  in  connection  with  the 
State  and  Treasury  Departments  respectively. 

But  other  forces  were  drawing  both  portfolios  away  from  New 
York.  The  North- West  set  up  a  protest  against  placing  the  Treasury 
there;  for  so,  it  was  predicted,  the  land  offices  would  be  filled  up 
with  Wright  men  to  work  against  General  Cass,  who  had  held  second 
place  for  the  presidential  nomination,  at  the  recent  convention,  and 

1  Jackson  MSS.,  Jackson  to  Blair,  November  29,  1844. 


: 


POLK.  129 

was  distinctly  recognized  as  one  of  the  candidates  of  the  future.  In 
fact  there  was  a  demand  that  Cass  himself  should  receive  a  Cabinet 
portfolio ;  but  this  was  quieted  by  his  election  to  the  Senate. 

The  South  had  a  strong  candidate  for  the  Treasury  in  Robert  J. 
Walker,  Senator  from  Mississippi.  Although  Walker  and  Buchanan 
were  alike  unacceptable  to  Jackson,  for  their  interest  in  the  presi- 
dential succession,  Polk  was  finally  induced  to  accede  to  the  demands 

r  their  appointment  to  the  Treasury  and  State  Departments 
respectively.  The  wonted  anxiety  of  Buchanan's  State  about  the 
tariff  had  been  allayed  before  the  election,  by  the  publication  of 
the  famous  letter  to  John  K.  Kane  of  Philadelphia,  wherein  Polk 
softened  his  avowed  free  trade  sentiments  with  the  declaration  that 
he  was  not  opposed  to  a  "  reasonable  incidental  protection."  5!  And  it 
was  at  Walker's  suggestion  that  this  clever  move  had  been  made.3 

Nothing  higher  than  the  War  Office  was  left  for  New  York,  and 
that  portfolio  was  formally  tendered  to  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  who 
declined  it  as  being  too  small  a  gift.  Failing  to  establish  a  connection 
with  the  Van  Buren  faction,  Polk  turned  to  the  annexationists ;  and 
selected  William  L.  Marcy,  formerly  a  United  States  Senator,  and 
lately  Governor  of  the  State,  to  be  Secretary  of  War.  Probably 
Polk  had  not  seriously  intended  to  attach  the  Van  Burenites  to  his 
administration.  It  is  thought  that  the  offer  'of  the  Treasury  to 
Silas  Wright  would  not  have  been  made,  had  there  been  any  probabil- 
ity of  acceptance.4  And  a  recent  writer  maintains  that  the  connection 
of  Butler's  name  with  the  War  Department,  after  that  gentleman's 
resignation  from  the  Van  Buren  Cabinet  had  shown  that  the  lesser 
portfolios  could  not  attract  him,  was  a  ruse  gotten  up  by  Edwin  Cros- 
well,  a  Democrat  editor  and  State  printer  for  New  York.6  Polk  was 
able  to  say,  however,  that  he  had  made  the  Van  Buren  men  fair 
offers.8 

The  Navy  Department  was  assigned  to  George  Bancroft.    There 

*Niles  Register,  LXVI,  295. 

8  Polk  MSS.,  Walker  to  Polk,  Baltimore,  May  20,  1844. 

*  Jenkins,  Life  of  Silas  Wright,  202. 

5  Alexander,  A  Political  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  II,  94. 

6  Folk's  Diary,  Lenox  Library,  XIII,  47,  XIV,  18. 


130  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

is  a  tradition  that  Bancroft  was  recommended  for  Cabinet  honors 
by  connection  with  a  proposed  Life  of  Jackson.  In  Jackson's  cor- 
respondence with  Van  Buren  some  eight  years  before  this  date,  there 
is  a  reference  to  the  young  historian,  to  whom  the  ex-President 
consents  to  give  certain  papers,  if  Amos  Kendall  will  agree.7  But 
there  is  no  documentary  evidence  that  this  brought  Bancroft  to  the 
Cabinet.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  ample  political  reasons  for 
the  appointment.  Bancroft  had  asserted  some  leadership  in  the 
Democrat  National  Convention,  by  turning  the  votes  of  Massachu- 
setts and  New  Hampshire  to  Polk,  who  had  previously  been  thought 
of  only  as  a  suitable  running  mate  for  Van  Buren.8  He  was  the 
choice  of  New  England  Democrats  for  a  place  in  the  Cabinet ;  and 
Van  Buren  favored  him,  if  that  section  of  the  country  was  repre- 
sented at  all.9 

The  connecting  of  Bancroft  with  the  Navy  necessitated  the  trans- 
fer of  John  Y.  Mason,  who  was  retained  from  the  Tyler  administra- 
tion ;  and  Mr.  Mason  now  became  Attorney-General.  The  Post- 
Office  was  assigned  to  Cave  Johnson  of  Tennessee,  who  enjoyed  an 
intimate  friendship  with  the  President,  both  private  and  political. 

Notwithstanding  the  unusual  complications  that  entered  into  the 
selection  of  this  Cabinet,  it  was  an  exceedingly  able  one.  Moreover, 
a  certain  leveling  up  resulted  from  the  fact  that  the  President's 
personal  sympathies  were  distinctly  with  the  lower  end  of  the 
Cabinet  table.  The  question  of  Jackson's  relation  to  the  Executive 
counsels  was  ended  by  his  death  about  four  months  after  the  inaug- 
uration, and  happily  so.  Polk  had  not  adhered  to  his  advice  in  his 
most  important  appointments ;  and  had  caused  him  deep  distress  by 
setting  up  the  Daily  Union  as  administration  organ,  instead  of  sus- 
taining the  Globe. 

It  was  fatal  to  a  hearty  cooperation  between  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  State,  that  Polk  had  departed  from  the  advice  of  his 
aged  Mentor,  in  making  his  appointments,  after  he  had  espoused  the 

7  Van  Buren  MSS.,  Jackson  to  Van  Buren,  October  29,  1837. 

8  M.  A.  DeWolf e  Howe,  Life  and  Letters  of  George  Bancroft,  I,  253 ;  Ban- 
croft to  Polk,  July  6,  1844. 

9  Folk's  Diary,  Lenox  Library,  II,  159;  Van  Buren  to  Polk,  January  18, 1845. 


POLK.  131 

doctrine  that  presidential  aspirants  are  a  Cabinet  evil.  He  declined 
a  second  term  of  office  for  himself;  and,  putting  too  much  faith  in 
Jackson's  scheme  of  beginning  an  administration  with  "  written 
rules,"  he  addressed  a  letter  to  each  of  his  prospective  Secretaries, 
stating  that  any  member  of  the  Cabinet  who  became  a  candidate  for 
either  the  Presidency  or  the  Vice-Presidency,  would  be  expected  to 
resign  his  portfolio,  and  specifying  that  he  wished  to  guard  against 
official  interference  with  the  succession,  by  use  of  the  public  patron- 
age.10 Buchanan  replied  to  this  with  diffuse  protests  that  really 
evaded  the  point." 

The  sequel  was  constant  suspicion  on  both  sides.  Polk  noted  in 
his  Diary  that  Buchanan  had  wavered  about  the  annexation  of 
Oregon,  and  again  that  he  had  vacillated  on  the  Mexican  question, 
and  that  the  motive  must  be  his  elevation  to  the  Presidency.  The 
selection  of  a  "  Barnburner  "  newspaper  in  New  York,  for  the  publi- 
cation of  matter  over  which  the  State  Department  had  charge,  was 
ascribed  to  a  desire  to  curry  favor  with  the  Van  Buren  democracy, 
with  which  the  administration  had  entirely  broken.12  The  other  side 
of  the  matter  was  that  Buchanan  was  nursing  resentment  over  the 
President's  disregard  of  his  interests  in  dispensing  the  patronage. 
The  most  heated  controversy  on  this  point  occurred  early  in  the 
administration ;  and  was  concerned  with  the  nomination  of  Judge 
Woodward  of  Pennsylvania  for  a  place  on  the  Supreme  Bench,  with- 
out Buchanan's  previous  knowledge.  The  offended  Minister  wrote 
the  President  a  caustic  letter;  but  a  frank  interview  precluded  his 
sending  it.  Buchanan  ventured  to  assert  that  the  occurrence  was 
unprecedented  in  all  the  affairs  between  Presidents  and  Cabinets ; 
while  Polk  retaliated  that  he  had  not  so  understood  it,  that  he  alone 
was  responsible  for  his  appointments,  and  that,  while  he  would  be 
happy,  if  his  Cabinet  were  satisfied,  he  must  act  on  his  own  conviction, 
even  if  they  were  not.13  Buchanan  filed  a  memorandum,  in  which  he 
asserted  that  the  dispensing  of  the  Pennsylvania  patronage  had 

10  Folk's  Diary,  Lenox  Library,  II,  236. 

11  Curtis,  Life  of  James  Buchanan,  I,  548. 

12  Folk's  Diary,  Lenox  Library,  XVI,  59,  66,  71 ;  also  XXII,  75. 
"Folk's  Diary,  Lenox  Library,  III,  I. 


132  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

placed  him  in  the  false  position  before  the  public  of  being  a  member 
of  the  Cabinet,  with  the  President  using  all  his  official  patronage  to 
break  him  down  at  home.11  And,  as  the  time  for  the  presidential 
nominations  for  1852  approached,  he  wrote  to  one  of  his  colleagues : 
"  The  course  of  Mr.  Folk's  administration  in  appointing  my  bitter 
enemies  to  office  has  done  me  great  injury." :  On  one  or  two  occa- 
sions, Polk  also  ascribed  some  independent  action  on  Walker's  part 
to  like  motives  with  Buchanan's.16 

This  friction  within  the  Executive  would  seem  to  have  been  serious 
enough  to  impair  its  efficiency,  and  the  fact  that  it  did  not  have  that 
effect  is  clear  proof  of  Folk's  mastery  of  the  situation,  for  which  he 
has  only  received  credit  within  a  few  years.  The  dominant  note  of 
the  administration  is  that  of  a  President  in  full  control  of  affairs. 
Formal  consultation  under  Polk  was  more  frequent  than  it  had  been 
under  his  predecessors ;  for  he  held  two  Cabinet  meetings  a  week, 
on  Tuesday  and  Saturday.  His  personal  views  on  this  subject  he 
stated  thus :  "At  each  meeting  of  the  Cabinet,  I  learn  from  each 
member  of  the  Cabinet  what  is  being  done  in  his  particular  Depart- 
ment, and  especially  if  any  question  of  doubt  or  difficulty  has  arisen. 
I  have  never  called  for  any  written  opinions  from  my  Cabinet,  pre- 
ferring to  take  their  opinions,  after  discussion  in  Cabinet  and  in  the 
presence  of  one  another.  In  this  way,  harmony  of  opinion  is  more 
likely  to  exist."  " 

Upon  the  Oregon  question,  Polk  took  the  very  unusual  course  of 
seeking  a  previous  consultation  with  the  Senate.  June  10,  1846, 
he  submitted  to  that  body  a  preliminary  convention  presented  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  by  the  British  Minister.  The  accompanying 
message  stated  that  in  the  early  periods  of  the  Government,  the 
opinion  and  advice  of  the  Senate  were  often  taken  in  advance  upon 
important  questions  of  our  foreign  policy.18  What  inspired  President 

"Buchanan  MSS. 

"Buchanan  MSS.,  Buchanan  to  Toucey,  July  12,  1850. 

16  Folk's  Diary,  Lenox  Library,  III,  45. 

1T  Folk's  Diary,  Lenox  Library,  XXI,  61,  September  23,  1848. 

18  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  IV,  449.  Polk  was 
mistaken  about  this.  Some  interesting  facts  about  the  early  practice  with  re- 
gard to  previous  consultation  by  written  communication  are  afforded  by  the 


POLK.  133 

Polk  to  resort  to  this  early  abandoned  expedient,  we  do  not  know. 
But  the  time  had  long  passed  for  such  a  step  to  have  any  effect  upon 
the  functions  of  Senate  and  Cabinet. 

The  Executive  initiative  in  Congress  during  Folk's  presidency 
was  unusually  brisk.  The  Tariff  Act  of  1846  was  distinctly  an 
administration  measure;  and  in  originating  other  legislation,  the 
Treasury  Department  was  more  than  ordinarily  conspicuous.  Further- 
more, the  affairs  with  England  and  Mexico  presented  an  unusual 
array  of  matters  in  which  Congress  was  dependent  upon  the  Heads 
of  Departments. 

A  series  of  changes  in  the  Cabinet  personnel  was  set  in  motion 
by  Bancroft's  resignation  from  the  Navy  in  September,  1846.  Spe- 
cial interest  attaches  to  this  for  personal  reasons.  Bancroft  had  ad- 
ministered the  Navy  with  unwonted  energy,  completely  giving  the  lie 
to  the  objection  that  he  was  a  man  of  books  and  the  closet,  with  little 
experience  of  affairs.  But  his  administration  was  more  efficient  than 
popular.  At  the  Secretary's  order,  a  board  of  naval  officers  met  at 
Washington  in  July  1846,  to  consider  the  subject  of  promotions.  A 
proposition  was  laid  before  this  board  that  the  rule  of  seniority  be 
given  up  for  a  system  of  merit,  which  the  Secretary  should  determine. 
Although  this  was  adopted,  it  called  forth  a  minority  protest  and 
much  public  criticism.19  A  little  later,  the  Senate  defeated  a  list 
of  naval  appointments.20  Bancroft's  retirement,  however,  was  in- 
spired, as  the  President's  Diary  indicates,  by  a  genuine  preference 
for  a  diplomatic  post.  Inasmuch  as  the  English  and  French  Missions 
were  both  to  be  vacated,  the  subject  had  come  up  between  President 
and  Secretary  some  weeks  before  the  unpleasantness  in  naval  circles. 
The  original  plan  was  to  send  Bancroft  to  France,  because  Bu- 
chanan's name  was  connected  with  the  other  position.  But  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  decided  to  remain  in  the  Cabinet ;  and  Bancroft  was 
appointed  Minister  to  England.21 

following  references:  Writings  of  Jefferson,  I,  191,  Anas,  April  9,  1792;  also 
220,  February  26,  1793 ;  also,  Life  and  Letters  of  George  Cabot,  236,  Pickering 
to  Cabot,  September  13,  1799. 

19  Niles  Register,  LXIX,  323,  August  15,  1846. 

20  Senate  Executive  Journal,  August  4,  1846. 

21  Folk's  Diary,  Lenox  Library,  VIII,  10,  12. 


134  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Mason  was  now  put  back  into  the  Navy  Department ;  and  Polk 
looked  to  New  England  for  an  Attorney-General.  Nathan  Clifford 
of  Maine  was  appointed,  after  an  offer  to  Franklin  Pierce  of  New 
Hampshire.  A  year  and  a  half  later,  Mr.  Clifford  retired,  to  under- 
take a  commission  to  Mexico;  and  Isaac  Toucey  of  Connecticut, 
became  Attorney-General.  Mr.  Toucey  became  an  intimate  friend  cf 
Buchanan  and  was  called  into  his  Cabinet. 

One  of  President  Folk's  last  official  acts  was  to  sign  the  Act  to 
establish  the  Home  Department,  or  the  Department  of  the  Interior, 
March  3,  1849.  I*1  tne  nrst  session  of  Congress,  under  the  Consti- 
tution, it  had  been  proposed  by  Representative  Vining  of  Delaware 
to  establish  a  separate  Home  Department ;  a  but  at  that  time  few  men 
thought  it  necessary  to  provide  an  establishment  for  domestic  admin- 
istration along1  with  the  Departments  of  War,  Finance,  and  Foreign 
Affairs.  In  1816,  however,  President  Madison,  in  his  last  Annual 
Message  to  Congress,  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  progress 
and  growing  population  of  the  country  required  an  additional  Ex- 
ecutive Department.23  Nine  years  later,  President  John  Quincy 
Adams,  renewed  Madison's  recommendation;  and  declared  in  the 
light  of  his  own  Cabinet  experience  that  the  union  of  Foreign  with 
Interior  Affairs,  established  in  the  first  year  of  the  Government,  had 
become  an  unquestionable  detriment  to  the  public  service.24  In  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  message  by  the  Cabinet,  Clay  had  said  that  a  new  De- 
partment was  of  most  urgent  necessity ;  but  that  he  doubted  if  such  a 
measure  would  command  five  votes  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
That  body  went  so  far,  however,  as  to  appoint  a  committee  to  investi- 
gate the  subject,  of  which  Webster  was  chairman ;  *  and  a  bill  was  pro- 
jected for  a  Home  Department  to  have  charge  of  internal  correspon- 
dence, roads  and  canals,  Indians,  and  the  patent  office.  Jackson  also 
took  up  the  subject  in  his  First  Annual  Message;  but  refused  to 
recommend  a  Home  Department,  because  such  plan  had  already 
failed  in  Congress  on  account  of  the  belief  that  it  would  increase  the 

23  Annals  of  Congress,  I,  369-371. 

28  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  I,  577. 

24  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  II,  314. 

25  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  VII,  63,  83,  109. 


POLK.  135 

centralizing  tendency  of  the  Federal  Government.  He  was  none  the 
less  urgent  for  some  arrangement  that  would  give  the  Secretary  of 
State  more  time  for  foreign  affairs.28  The  result  of  this  was  a  project 
to  create  the  office  of  Assistant-Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs  within 
the  State  Department.  This  jealousy  of  a  Home  Department  availed 
to  put  off  its  establishment,  until  the  relief  of  the  other  Departments 
became  an  absolute  necessity;  moreover,  President  Polk  signed  the 
act  reluctantly.27  The  new  Department  was  given  charge  over  the 
Patent  Office  and  the  Census,  which  had  previously  been  the  business 
of  the  Department  of  State;  also  over  the  Land  Office  and  United 
States  Mines,  hitherto  belonging  to  the  Treasury,  over  Indian  Affairs, 
which  had  been  in  charge  of  the  War  Office,  and  over  the  Pension 
Bureau,  the  supervision  of  which  had  been  divided  between  the  War 
and  Navy  Departments,  besides  some  miscellaneous  functions.  The 
expansion  of  departmental  business  was  further  indicated  by  the  cre- 
ation, under  the  Home  Department  Act,  of  an  Assistant  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury. 

28  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  II,  461. 
27  Folk's  Diary,  Lenox  Library,  XXIII,  160. 


PRESIDENT. 
ZACHARY  TAYLOR,  Louisiana.     ((Died  July  9,  1850.) 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
MILLARD  FILLMORE,  New  York. 


March  5,  1849,  to  July  9,  1850. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
JAMES   BUCHANAN,   of   Pennsylvania;    continued   from   last  Administration. 
JOHN  M.  CLAYTON,  of  Delaware,  March  7,  1849. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

ROBERT   J.   WALKER,   of  Mississippi;    continued   from   last  Administration. 
MCCLINTOCK  YOUNG  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  6,  1849. 
WILLIAM  M.  MEREDITH,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  8,  1849. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

WILLIAM  L.  MARCY,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
REVERDY  JOHNSON,  of  Maryland    (Attorney-General),  ad  interim,  March  8, 

1849- 
GEORGE  W.  CRAWFORD,  of  Georgia,  March  8,  1849. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 

ISAAC  TOUCEY,  of  Connecticut;   continued  from  last  Administration. 
REVERDY  JOHNSON,  of  Maryland,  March  8,  1849. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

CAVE  JOHNSON,  of  Tennessee;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
SELAH  R.  HOBBIE,  of  New  York  (First  Assistant  Postmaster-General),  ad 

interim,  March  5,  1849. 
JACOB  COLLAMER,  of  Vermont,  March  8,  1849. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

JOHN  Y.  MASON,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  B.  PRESTON,  of  Virginia,  March  8,  1849. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 
THOMAS  EWING,  of  Ohio,  March  8,  1849. 


137 


TAYLOR. 

The  composition  of  the  Cabinet  of  President  Zachary  Taylor  is 
quite  inexplicable  by  any  code  of  rules  ;  and  bears  abundant  testimony 
to  the  naivete  of  the  hero  of  the  Mexican  War  with  regard  to 
government  and  politics.  Two  weeks  after  his  nomination,  General 
Taylor  communicated  to  Governor  Crittenden  of  Kentucky,  who  was 
serving  as  his  guide  and  champion,  at  the  price  of  a  former  allegi- 
ance to  Clay,  that,  if  he  were  elected  President,  his  entire  Cabinet 
should  be  formed  of  Whigs.1  Apparently  Thurlow  Weed  had  im- 
posed upon  the  Whigs  a  great  risk  of  forfeiting  the  spoils  to  the 
enemy  for  a  second  time,  when  he  so  laid  the  wires,  and  shuffled 
the  National  Convention  as  to  put  up  a  no-party  hero  for  the  Presi- 
dency. It  is  alleged,  however,  that  he  had  not  acted  without  ac- 
quainting himself  with  General  Taylor's  real  sympathies.3 

Unlike  Harrison,  who  was  not  so  much  of  a  novice  in  affairs  of 
government,  General  Taylor  failed  to  associate  himself  with  the 
statesmen  of  the  party,  though  neither  Clay  nor  Webster  had  shown 
any  hostility  to  him,  after  the  nomination  was  determined.  For  his 
preliminary  instructions,  he  turned  to  Crittenden;  and  his  first 
lesson  seems  to  have  been  on  the  impracticability  of  calling  Vice- 
President  Fillmore  into  the  Cabinet.3 

The  pupil  made  no  great  progress,  however,  in  the  accepted  rules 
for  distributing  portfolios,  though  the  peculiar  combination  of  States 
and  factions  that  had  elected  him,  might  have  rendered  them  some- 
what inapplicable  in  more  experienced  hands.  The  Cabinet  arrange- 
ments began  with  an  interview  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  between 
President-elect  and  Governor.  Crittenden  declined  the  State  port- 
folio for  himself,  but  recommended  Senator  John  M.  Clayton  of 

1  Coleman,  Life  of  J.  J.  Crittenden,  I,  316;  Taylor  to  Crittenden,  July  I,  1848. 
3  Alexander,  A  Political  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  II,  136. 
8  Thurlow  Weed,  Autobiography,  586. 

139 


140  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Delaware,  who  had  been  an  avowed  Cabinet  aspirant  in  the  Harrison- 
Tyler  administration;  and  the  appointment  was  promptly  arranged 
by  telegraph.  Abbott  Lawrence,  a  prominent  Massachusetts  mer- 
chant, who  had  stood  second  to  Fillmore  as  candidate  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency,  was  slated  for  the  Navy,  and  Thomas  Ewing  of  Ohio, 
Harrison's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  for  the  Post-Office.  The  selec- 
tion of  George  W.  Crawford  of  Georgia  for  the  War  Department  was 
made  by  Robert  H.  Toombs  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  after  Gen- 
eral Taylor  arrived  at  the  seat  of  Government.  William  M.  Mere- 
dith, a  Pennsylvania  lawyer  of  considerable  skill,  but  without  ex- 
perience of  public  affairs,  was  chosen  for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
by  the  advice  of  Mr.  Clayton.  Furthermore,  Representative  William 
B.  Preston,  of  Virginia,  was  substituted  for  Abbott  Lawrence  in  the 
Navy  Department.  The  Attorney-Generalship  was  assigned  to 
Senator  Reverdy  Johnson  of  Maryland.  There  is  a  story  that  the 
places  assigned  to  Preston  and  Johnson  were  originally  reversed; 
but  Preston  was  not  a  lawyer,  and  when  the  duties  of  the  At- 
torney-General were  explained  to  General  Taylor,  the  exchange 
was  made.  As  the  Cabinet  arrangements  were  being  completed, 
much  feeling  was  manifested  that  New  England  was  being  slighted. 
The  Treasury  was  desired  by  that  section  of  the  country,  and  had 
been  asked  for  Mr.  Lawrence,  who  declined  the  Navy.  Ex- 
Senator  George  Evans  of  Maine  was  also  named  for  that  post ;  and 
there  is  some  evidence  that  Webster  supported  him.  An  opportunity 
was  afforded  for  giving  New  England  a  second  offer  by  the  creation 
of  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  on  the  last  day  of  the  expiring 
administration;  and  William  H.  Seward  of  New  York,  whom  the 
late  Whig  triumph  had  sent  to  the  Senate,  sought  to  have  the  new 
office  put  at  the  disposal,  not  of  Webster,  but  the  newly  elected  Sena- 
tor from  Connecticut,  Truman  Smith.  The  final  arrangement,  how- 
ever, was  the  transfer  of  Mr.  Ewing  to  the  Interior  Department,  and 
the  appointment  of  Representative  Jacob  Collamer  of  Vermont  to  the 
Post-Office.*  Mr.  Seward's  first  speech  in  the  Senate  was  to  secure 
the  confirmation  of  the  Postmaster-General,  which  was  threatened 
by  an  attempt  to  refer  the  nomination  to  a  committee,  Mr.  Collamer 

*  Seward  at  Washington,  I,  loo. 


TAYLOR.  141 

being  singled  out  from  all  the  others  for  opposition,  because  of  his 
abolition  sentiments.5 

It  was  an  exceedingly  mediocre  Cabinet  that  was  formed  in  this 
novel  fashion.  Though  four  of  its  seven  members  came  from  slave- 
holding  States,  Crawford  and  Preston  afterwards  joining  the  Con- 
federacy, none  of  them  had  strength  enough  to  stamp  the  slave 
interest  upon  the  administration.  The  most  distinguished  member 
was  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  for  Mr.  Ewing  had  won  some 
prominence  in  the  two  fruitless  struggles  for  a  Third  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  The  Secretary  of  State  is  remembered  chiefly  for 
the  connection  of  his  name  with  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty.  He 
threw  the  Department  into  such  confusion,  that  his  resignation  was 
agitated,  and  he  seems  to  have  written  it  on  two  different  occasions, 
and  once  to  have  actually  tendered  it.6 

The  prime  force  in  this  brief  administration  was  Seward.  Taylor's 
reliance  upon  him  is  an  exceedingly  good  illustration  of  the  confiden- 
tial relations  which  sometimes  grow  out  of  the  President's  needs  of 
personal  connections  with  Congress,  whereby  a  Congressional  leader 
becomes  a  sort  of  outside  Minister.  There  was  a  rivalry  of  brief 
duration  between  Senator  and  Vice-President  for  the  inside  track. 
The  Whigs  of  New  York  were  divided  as  well  as  the  Democrats. 
Weed,  who  was  one  with  Seward,  had  given  an  affront  to  Fillmore 
at  the  time  of  the  Whig  victory,  eight  years  before,  by  failing  to 
send  him  to  the  Senate  in  place  of  Tallmadge,  who  had  previously 
been  a  Democrat.  And  the  two  factions  were  shortly  to  be  opposed 
on  the  Compromises  of  1850,  as  Radicals  and  Conservatives,  or  Sew- 
ard men  and  Silver-Grays.7  Shortly  after  the  inauguration,  Seward 
wrote  to  Weed  that  all  idea  of  calling  the  Vice-President  into  the 
Cabinet  had  been  dissipated;  evidently  that  project  of  General  Tay- 
lor's had  caused  the  two  some  concern. 

Seward's  control  of  the  patronage  was  sufficient  for  Toombs  to 
write  to  Crittenden,  who  fell  into  the  background,  as  General  Taylor 

'  Seward  at  Washington,  I,  106. 

6 Seward  at  Washington,  I,  in;  Clayton  MSS.,  Paper  of  December,  1849; 
ibid.,  June  18,  1850. 
7  Alexander,  A  Political  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  II,  30,  155. 


142  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

reached  Northern  influences,  that  the  Senator  from  New  York  was 
being  permitted  to  force  the  whole  Northern  Whig  party  into  his 
anti-slavery  position ;  and  that  only  Crawford,  the  Georgia  member 
of  the  Cabinet,  was  resisting,  because  Preston  of  Virginia  had  been 
fooled  into  supposing  that  Seward's  aspirations  were  for  1856,  and 
that  he  would  yield  to  the  South  in  1852,  if  given  free  rein.8 

Seward's  influence  extended  also  to  the  gravest  matters  of 
State.  Less  than  a  month  after  the  inauguration,  the  rumor  having 
gone  abroad  that  the  President  was  false  to  his  promise  about  the 
Wilmot  Proviso,  the  Senator  from  New  York  published  in  the 
National  Intelligencer,  the  organ  of  the  Whigs,  a  "  Vindication  of 
General  Taylor  on  the  Free  Soil  question  " :  for  the  consideration  of 
which  he  was  privileged  to  meet  with  the  President  and  Cabinet.9 
He  also  concurred  in  the  project  to  despatch  an  executive  agent  to 
California  for  furthering  the  preparation  of  a  State  Constitution. 

After  the  assembling  of  Congress  and  the  introduction  of  the 
Compromises,  Seward's  Cabinet  influence  was  chiefly  with  the  free- 
State  members ;  though  the  division  that  now  began  to  manifest 
itself  among  the  Heads  of  Departments  was  of  little  consequence 
to  the  relations  between  the  Cabinet  and  Congress.  Clay  himself 
bears  witness  to  the  retired  position  of  the  Executive ;  "  I  have  never 
before  seen  such  an  administration.  There  is  very  little  cooperation  or 
concord  between  the  two  ends  of  the  Avenue.  There  is  not,  I  believe, 
a  prominent  Whig  in  either  House  that  has  any  confidential  inter- 
course with  the  Executive.  Mr.  Seward,  it  is  said,  had;  but  his 
late  abolition  speech  had,  I  presume,  cut  him  off  from  any  such 
intercourse."1  But  the  old  chieftain  did  not  know  the  true  in- 
wardness of  things  at  the  White  House  and  the  Departments. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  notes  of  the  "  Higher  Law  "  speech  had  been 
approved  by  Ewing,  and  had  been  submitted  to  Clayton,  who  was 
less  favorable  because  the  Northern  sentiment  was  too  strong." 
Moreover  Clay's  speech  of  May  21,  1850,  attacking  the  President 

8  Coleman,  Life  of  J.  J.  Crittenden,  II,  364 ;  April  25,  1850. 

9  Seward  at  Washington,  I,  108,  March  29,  1849. 

10  Clay's  Works,  ed.,  1904,  V,  604 ;  Clay  to  James  Harlan,  March  16,  1850. 

11  Seward  at  Washington,  I,  125,  March  n,  1850. 


TAYLOR.  143 

and  administration,  caused  the  Senator  from  New  York  to  form  a 
plan  "  to  vindicate  and  defend  the  administration  and  the  noble  old 
chief  "  if  opportunity  should  arise.1* 

It  is  probable  that  the  weak  and  colorless  Cabinet  which  General 
Taylor  in  his  inexperience  had  allowed  a  medley  of  advisers  to  select 
for  him,  would  have  given  place  to  a  stronger  one,  had  it  not  been 
for  his  untimely  death;  for  the  scandal  of  the  Galphin  Claim  had 
driven  the  President  to  resolve  upon  a  reconstruction.  This  was  a 
claim  for  several  thousand  dollars  put  forth  by  the  State  of  Georgia ; 
and  it  transpired  that  Secretary  Crawford  of  the  War  Department 
was  personally  interested  in  it,  notwithstanding  that  his  friend 
Toombs  maintained  that  the  whole  affair  was  an  attempt  to  drive 
him  from  office.  Other  members  of  the  Cabinet  shared  in  the 
reproach ;  for  Secretary  Meredith  of  the  Treasury  had  ordered  the 
payment  of  the  claim,  and  Attorney-General  Johnson  had  recom- 
mended it.  An  investigation  by  the  House  of  Representatives 
resulted  in  the  censure  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  morally  con- 
victed his  two  colleagues  of  stupidity;  in  which  latter  verdict  Sec- 
retary Ewing  of  the  Interior  was  made  to  share  by  the  simultaneous 
discovery  of  a  blunder  in  the  office  of  Indian  affairs,  being  now  a 
bureau  in  the  Department  of  the  Interior." 

The  President's  plan,  as  he  stated  it  to  Thurlow  Weed,  was  to 
detain  the  Senate  at  the  adjournment  of  the  Congressional  session, 
and  submit  the  new  appointments.  Meredith,  Ewing,  and  Collamer, 
whom  he  highly  esteemed  in  spite  of  the  Departmental  blunders,  were 
to  be  transferred  to  diplomatic  posts.  The  new  Cabinet  was  to  have 
the  majority  of  its  members  from  the  free  States,  which  General 
Taylor  regarded  as  entitled  to  the  larger  representation,  by  virtue 
of  population  and  industrial  interests.  Mr.  Weed's  suggestion  that 
no  Southern  Whig  could  be  trusted  on  the  tariff,  and  that  a  suitable 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  would  be  Governor  Hamilton  Fish  of 
New  York,  was  apparently  received  with  tacit  consent ;  wherein  lies 
an  intimation  that  Seward  would  have  remained  in  the  Senate.14 

12  Seward  at  Washington,  I,  134,  May  22,  1850. 

18  Seward  at  Washington,  I,  130,  133,  143. 

14  Autobiography  of  Thurlow  Weed,  590,  591. 


144  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Notwithstanding  the  insipidity  of  the  Taylor  Cabinet,  the  Execu- 
tive relations  during  this  brief  administration  are  not  without 
interest.  They  show  on  the  part  of  a  President,  entirely  untrained 
in  politics  and  affairs  of  State,  a  power  to  identify  himself  with  the 
rising  forces  in  the  Government,  which  his  more  experienced  suc- 
cessors did  not  possess. 


PRESIDENT. 
MILLARD  FILLMORE,  New  York. 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
WILLIAM  R.  KING,  Alabama. 


July  9,  1850,  to  March  4,  1853. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
JOHN  M.  CLAYTON,  of  Delaware;  continued  from  Taylor's  Administration. 
DANIEL  WEBSTER,  of  Massachusetts,  July  22,  1850. 
CHARLES  M.  CONRAD,  of  Louisiana  (Secretary  of  War),  ud  interim,  September 

2,  1852. 

EDWARD  EVERETT,  of  Massachusetts,  November  6,  1852. 
WILLIAM  HUNTER  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1853. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

WILLIAM  M.  MEREDITH,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  Taylor's  Adminis- 
tration. 
THOMAS  CORWIN,  of  Ohio,  July  23,  1850. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

GEORGE  W.  CRAWFORD,  of  Georgia;  continued  from  Taylor's  Administration. 
SAMUEL  J.  ANDERSON  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  July  23,  1850. 
WINFIELD  SCOTT  (Major-General,  U.  S.  A.),  ad  interim,  July  24,  1850. 
CHARLES  M.  CONRAD,  of  Louisiana,  August  15,  1850. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 

REVERDY  JOHNSON,  of  Maryland;   continued   from  Taylor's  Administration. 
JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN,  of  Kentucky,  July  22,  1850. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

JACOB  COLLAMER,  of  Vermont;  continued  from  Taylor's  Administration. 
NATHAN  K.  HALL,  of  New  York,  July  23,  1850. 
SAMUEL  D.  HUBBARD,  of  Connecticut,  August  31,  1852. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

WILLIAM  B.  PRESTON,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  Taylor's  Administration. 
WILLIAM  A.  GRAHAM,  of  North  Carolina,  July  22,  1850. 
LEWIS  WARRINGTON  (Captain,  U.  S.  N.),  ad  interim,  July  23,  1850. 
JOHN  P.  KENNEDY,  of  Maryland,  July  22,  1852. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

THOMAS  EWING,  of  Ohio;  continued  from  Taylor's  Administration. 
DANIEL  C.  GODDARD   (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  July  23,  1850. 
THOMAS   M.   T.   MCKENNAN,   of   Pennsylvania,   August  27,   1850. 
DANIEL  C.  GODDARD  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  August  27,  1850. 
ALEXANDER  H.  H.  STUART,  of  Virginia,  September  12,  1850. 

10  145 


FILLMORE. 

The  accession  of  Vice-President  Fillmore  to  the  Presidency  on 
July  10,  1850,  gave  the  government  into  the  hands  of  the  Compro- 
mise Whigs ;  for  the  Seward  faction  now  had  to  yield  to  the  Silver- 
Grays.  The  Cabinet  situation  was  very  different  from  what  it  had 
been  at  Tyler's  accession  nine  years  before.  The  fact  that  Taylor's 
advisers  were  not  in  touch  with  Congress,  together  with  the  reproach 
of  the  Galphin  Claim  threw  the  weight  of  opinion  in  favor  of  a 
complete  change ;  moreover,  the  principle  now  began  to  be  applied 
to  an  accidental  President  that,  unless  he  appointed  his  own  Cabinet, 
the  administration  would  not  be  his  own.1  Seward  waited  upon  Mr. 
Fillmore  and  advised  the  retention  of  all  of  the  existing  Cabinet,  ex- 
cept the  Secretary  of  War,  urging  as  the  least  consideration  that  the 
Secretary  of  State  be  retained.  But  the  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
though  all  of  them  except  Crawford  would  have  preferred  to  remain 
at  their  posts,  professed  such  eagerness  to  withdraw,  that  they  had  to 
be  urged  to  allow  the  President  time  to  look  for  their  successors,  and 
their  resignations  were  accepted  to  take  effect  July  22. 

President  Fillmore  turned  at  once  to  Clay  and  Webster,  and 
formed  his  administration  in  much  the  same  fashion  as  Harrison 
had  done,  though  change  of  issues  and  the  advanced  years  of  the 
two  statesmen  made  the  situation  somewhat  different.  Clay,  as 
before,  desired  Cabinet  honors  for  his  rival  but  not  for  himself; 
which  significant  fact  called  forth  the  following  from  Fletcher 
Webster :  "  Mr.  Clay  is  very  anxious  to  have  father  go  into  the 
Cabinet.  This  alarms  me.  He  would  not  do  it,  unless  he  thought  it 
would  dispose  of  Mr.  Webster  out  of  his  way.  I  am  afraid  of  the 
kisses  of  an  enemy."3  The  new  President  further  consulted  Clay 
about  his  relations  with  Crittenden,  and  was  informed  that  there  was 

1  Seward  at  Washington,  I,  145-149. 

2  Van  Tyne,  Letters  of  Daniel  Webster,  420 ;  Fletcher  Webster  to  Peter  Har- 
vey, undated. 

147 


148  .  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

no  obstacle  to  appointment  of  that  gentleman  to  the  Cabinet,  although 
the  former  intimacy  was  at  an  end.  Accordingly,  Mr.  Crittenden, 
whose  governorship  had  now  expired,  assumed  the  Attorney- 
General's  office  for  the  second  time.  Further  than  this,  the  res- 
toration of  the  Harrison  Cabinet  did  not  go;  for  Mr.  Ewing,  the 
natural  representative  of  the  North-West  had  identified  himself 
with  the  Seward  wing  of  the  party.  The  Treasury  portfolio  was 
assigned,  however,  to  Senator  Thomas  Corwin  of  Ohio,  whose 
remarks  on  the  Mexican  War  were  too  well  remembered  to  make  the 
appointment  altogether  popular ;  in  fact  Seward  prepared  himself  to 
champion  Corwin's  confirmation,  if  obstruction  should  be  attempted. 
In  providing  for  the  other  Departments,  President  Fillmore  exper- 
ienced a  good  deal  of  difficulty.  All  were  inconspicuously  filled,  and 
there  was  much  shifting. 

The  State  Department  also  changed  hands  before  the  close  of  the 
administration.  Webster's  second  incumbency  had  been  much  inter- 
rupted by  ill  health,  which  became  more  serious,  after  he  was  dis- 
appointed of  the  presidential  nomination  of  1852 ;  at  the  close  of 
September  of  that  year,  he  resigned,  being  within  a  few  weeks  of  his 
death.  Edward  Everett,  who  had  the  same  constituency  and  political 
affiliations  as  Webster,  succeeded  him ;  and  maintained  the  dignity  of 
the  Department  according  to  the  standard  of  his  predecessor, 
although  his  brief  incumbency  afforded  no  opportunity  for  great  dis- 
tinction. 

The  Fillmore  administration,  with  its  achievements  in  the  field  of 
foreign  affairs,  and  its  harmonious  relations  with  Congress,  showed 
average  strength.  In  the  affairs  of  State,  the  President  was  over- 
shadowed by  the  Secretary ;  but  in  his  political  following  he  had  the 
advantage.  The  intrusion  of  an  accidental  President  into  an  admin- 
istration, has  never  failed  to  complicate  the  question  of  the  presiden- 
tial succession;  and  on  this  occasion  the  Cabinet  relations  were 
involved.  Just  as  Clay  was  removed  by  physical  collapse  in  the 
session  of  1851 -'52,  Webster  found  a  new  rival  in  Fillmore,  and 
Fillmore  probably  enjoyed  Clay's  support.  Though  the  situation  was 
a  delicate  one,  no  Cabinet  rupture  resulted,  neither  did  personal 
friction  outwardly  weaken  the  administration. 


FlLLMORE. 


149 


On  the  whole,  the  Whigs  raised  the  status  of  the  Cabinet  above 
the  level  to  which  it  had  sunken  during  the  Jackson  regime,  not- 
withstanding the  shocks  suffered  by  the  extraordinary  number  of 
changes  in  the  Executive  personnel.  For,  while  the  Whig  party 
degraded  the  Presidency,  by  setting  aside  its  statesmen  for  candi- 
dates with  purely  popular  qualifications,  it  restored  the  old  standard 
of  Cabinet  ability  by  reversing  Jackson's  rule  that  excluded  presi- 
dential aspirants  from  the  Departments.  There  was  also  a  gain 
in  the  influence  of  the  Cabinet  with  Congress.  A  few  weeks  before 
Tyler's  break  with  the  Whigs,  Silas  Wright  asserted  that  he  had 
never  known  the  Executive  influence  to  be  so  much  felt  in  the 
Upper  House,  and  Mr.  Wright  had  entered  the  Senate  in  Jackson's 
presidency.  Despite  the  vicissitudes  that  followed,  the  Cabinet  was 
again  influential  when  the  Whig  period  closed.  The  Executive 
initiative,  however,  was  not  so  much  felt  as  it  would  have  been,  had 
Clay  consented  to  become  a  member  of  the  administration. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  Fillmore  administration,  March  3,  1853,  an 
act  was  passed  raising  the  salaries  of  the  Cabinet  officers  and  placing 
the  Attorney-General  and  Postmaster-General  upon  the  same  level 
with  the  Secretaries.  This  act  also  created  the  office  of  Assistant 
Secretary  in  the  Department  of  State. 


PRESIDENT. 
FRANKLIN  PIERCE,  New  Hampshire. 

VICE-  PRESIDENT. 
WILLIAM  R.  KING,  Alabama.     (Died  April  18,  1853.) 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
DAVID   R.   ATCHISON,   Missouri. 
LEWIS  CASS,  Michigan. 
JESSE  D.  BRIGHT,  Indiana. 
CHARLES  E.  STUART,  Michigan. 
JAMES  M.  MASON,  Virginia. 


March  4,  1853,  to  March  4,  1857. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

WILLIAM  HUNTER  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1853. 
WILLIAM  L.  MARCY,  of  New  York,  March  7,  1853. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

THOMAS  CORWIN,  of  Ohio;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  GUTHRIE,  of  Kentucky,  March  7,  1853. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

CHARLES  M.  CONRAD,  of  Louisiana;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  of  Mississippi,  March  7,  1853. 
SAMUEL  COOPER  (Adjutant-General,  U.  S.  A.),  ad  interim,  March  3,  1857. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
CALEB  CUSHING,  of  Massachusetts,  March  7,  1853. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL, 

SAMUEL  D.  HUBBARD,  of  Connecticut;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  CAMPBELL,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  7,  1853. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

JOHN  P.  KENNEDY,  of  Maryland;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  C.  DOBBIN,  of  North  Carolina,  March  7,  1853. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

ALEXANDER  H.  H.  STUART,  of  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
ROBERT  MCCLELLAND,  of  Michigan,  March  7,  1853. 


PIERCE. 

The  conditions  that  attended  the  making  of  a  Democrat  Cabinet 
in  1852  strongly  resembled  those  of  1844;  but  there  is  not  so  much 
information  available  about  the  demands  that  confronted  Pierce  as 
there  is  in  the  case  of  Polk.  The  strong  competitors  for  the  presi- 
dential nomination,  before  a  sufficiently  colorless  candidate  was  found 
in  Franklin  Pierce  of  New  Hampshire,  had  been  Cass,  Buchanan, 
Marcy,  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  The  factional  divisions  within  the 
larger  States  had  changed  form  in  eight  years.  In  New  York,  there 
were  now  the  "  Softs  "  and  "  Hards  "  who  united  for  the  election 
of  the  President,  but  resumed  their  rivalries  so  soon  as  the  admin- 
istration was  inaugurated.  In  Pennsylvania  Buchanan  was  in  the 
ascendant;  and  the  strength  of  his  following  is  indicated  by  the 
choice  of  one  of  his  particular  friends,  William  R.  King  of  Alabama, 
as  the  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency. 

With  his  rival  from  the  Keystone  State,  Pierce  desired  amicable 
but  not  intimate  relations ;  and  Buchanan's  conflicting  emotions  with 
regard  to  the  comparative  abasement  to  which  he  was  subjected  give 
a  good  deal  of  flavor  to  the  story  of  how  the  administration  was 
formed.  Early  in  December,  the  President-elect  entered  into  corre- 
spondence with  the  ex-Secretary  of  State ;  and,  with  kind  but  explicit 
announcement  that  Buchanan  himself  would  not  be  invited  into  the 
Cabinet,  he  asked  for  other  suggestions.  The  correspondence  re- 
sulted in  the  appointment  of  James  Campbell  of  Pennsylvania  to  the 
Postmaster-Generalship.1  Additional  political  significance  attached 
to  the  fact  that  Judge  Campbell  was  a  Roman  Catholic  in  religion, 
since  the  President-elect  had  been  charged  with  favoring  the  religious 
test  act  of  New  Hampshire,2 

1  Buchanan    MSS.,    Letters    between    Pierce    and    Buchanan,    1852;    also 
Buchanan  to  Campbell,  March  10,  1853. 
a  Daily  Union,  August  7,  1853. 

153 


154  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

The  Treasury  portfolio  went  to  the  South,  as  it  had  done  under 
Polk,  the  new  Secretary  being  James  Guthrie  of  Kentucky,  a  man 
of  advanced  years,  who  was  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  his  State, 
but  was  unknown  in  National  politics.  The  War  Department  was 
pressed  upon  Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi,  who  had  won  distinction 
in  the  Mexican  War,  and  when  confronted  with  a  choice  between  a 
Cabinet  office  and  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  decided  reluctantly  in  favor 
of  the  former.  The  Navy  portfolio  was  assigned  to  James  C.  Dobbin, 
a  young  North '  Carolina  lawyer,  who  had  been  a  controlling  force 
in  the  Democrat  National  Convention,  and  had  nominated  Pierce 
for  the  Presidency.  The  Interior  Department  was  given  to  Robert 
McClelland  of  Michigan,  a  former  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  Governor  of  his  State,  this  arrangement  being  a 
concession  to  the  Cass  interest.  The  chosen  representative  of  New 
England  was  Caleb  Cushing  of  Massachusetts ;  and  there  is  a  tra- 
dition that  Pierce  would  have  put  him  over  the  State  Department, 
had  it  not  been  that,  in  spite  of  his  fellowship  with  Tyler,  the  South 
was  mindful  that  Cushing  had  once  companied  with  abolitionists.8 

The  State  portfolio  had  been  reserved  for  New  York ;  but  the  diffi- 
culty of  choosing  between  the  factions  there  deferred  the  final 
arrangement,  until  two  or  three  days  beyond  the  usual  time  for 
submitting  the  Cabinet  slate  to  the  Senate.  John  A.  Dix,  who  had 
been  very  prominent  within  the  State,  and  had  also  had  a  short  ser- 
vice in  the  United  States  Senate,  was  singled  out  as  a  suitable 
incumbent,  and  was  bidden  to  Pierce's  home  at  Concord,  to  receive 
there  a  definite  offer  of  the  State  portfolio.  Mr.  Dix,  however,  had 
been  a  "Barnburner;"  and  in  1848,  he  had  run  for  the  office  of 
Governor  on  the  Free-Soil  ticket.  And,  when  it  was  pointed  out  to 
the  President-elect,  that  such  a  selection  might  cost  him  the  support 
of  the  Southern  Democracy,  he  sought  a  release  from  the  engage- 
meat.4  Mr.  Dix's  opportunity  for  Cabinet  distinction  was  thereby 
postponed  to  a  later  administration.  And  the  State  portfolio  was 
shifted  to  Marcy,  whose  "  Hunker  "  conservatism  on  the  issues  that 
had  begun  to  divide  the  party  eight  years  before  rendered  his  past 

8  Ben  Perley  Poore,  Reminiscences,  I,  427. 
*  Memoirs  of  John  A.  Dix,  I,  271,  272. 


PIERCE.  155 

less  objectionable.  It  was  thus  an  afterthought  that  Pierce  put  at 
the  head  of  his  Cabinet  one  of  his  prominent  competitors  for  the 
presidential  nomination. 

The  qualifications  of  Folk's  Secretary  of  War  for  such  elevation 
do  not  greatly  suffer  for  being  reflected  through  the  medium  of 
Buchanan's  disaffection.  Writing  to  one  of  their  common  colleagues, 
the  former  Secretary  of  State  said :  "  I  have  no  cause  of  complaint 

against   Marcy He   would   have   succeeded   in   any   other 

Department  of  the  government ;  but  I  know  of  no  other  man  of 
experience  and  character  who  is  more  ignorant  than  he  is  of  all 
which  relates  to  our  foreign  affairs.  He  has  never  made  them  any 
portion  of  his  study.  But  he  has  a  cool,  clear  head,  and  a  strong 
intellect,  and  I  place  great  reliance  on  his  capacity.  He  may  and  I 

trust  will  succeed It  is  but  justice  to  the  President  to  remark 

that  he  had  good  reasons  to  believe  that  I  did  not  desire  the  State 
Department  at  the  time  he  appointed  Marcy.  Still  less  do  I  desire 
the  mission  to  England/' '  Inasmuch  as  Buchanan  accepted  the  mis- 
sion to  England,  which  he  quitted  in  time  to  prepare  for  the  presi- 
dential canvass  of  1856,  it  may  be  inferred  that  he  would  not  have 
declined  a  second  incumbency  of  the  State  Department. 

The  Pierce  Cabinet  was  an  able  one.  With  Marcy,  Davis,  and 
Cushing  among  its  members,  there  were  strong  and  varied  person- 
alities about  the  council  table.  This  administration  is  proverbial, 
moreover,  for  its  stability,  being  the  only  one  that  has  experienced 
no  change  of  personnel;  although  both  Washington  and  Jefferson, 
barring  the  delays  that  attended  the  forming  of  an  administration  in 
the  early  years  of  the  Government,  passed  through  a  single  term  of 
office,  without  parting  with  any  of  their  Ministers. 

An  extraordinary  mastery  over  men  on  the  part  of  President  Pierce 
is  held  up  by  Southern  writers,  as  the  explanation  of  the  stability  of 
his  Cabinet,  as  well  as  of  the  great  harmony  which  they  claim  for  it.6 
The  same  authorities,  nevertheless,  portray  Pierce  as  a  President  who 
so  disliked  to  cause  pain  to  his  opponents  that  he  had  the  air  of  seek- 
ing a  compromise;  and  admit  that  he  surmounted  differences  by 

5  Buchanan  MSS.,  Buchanan  to  Cave  Johnson,  May  3,  1853. 
*  Alf  riend,  Life  of  Jefferson  Davis,  89. 


156  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

agreeing  with  his  adversary.  It  is  asserted  that  on  only  one  occasion 
was  there  any  serious  disagreement  between  him  and  Secretary  Davis, 
and  that  this  was  settled  by  the  President's  saying  that  he  would  take 
the  responsibility;  this  one  difference,  moreover,  was  on  a  minor 
point.7  Such  harmony  in  Cabinet  affairs  is  phenomenal ;  and  its  ex- 
istence at  this  date  between  the  future  President  of  the  Confederacy 
and  a  President  of  the  United  States,  bred  in  the  traditions  of  New 
England,  points  to  great  adaptability  on  one  side  or  the  other. 

The  farewell  letters  exchanged  between  Pierce  and  his  Cabinet 
reflect  an  exceedingly  friendly  feeling.8  They  appear,  however,  to 
have  been  somewhat  of  a  formality;  for  the  Fillmore  Cabinet  upon 
retiring  had  joined  in  a  cordial  letter  of  farewell  to  .the  President, 
and  Tyler  had  gone  so  far  as  to  include  a  tribute  to  his  Cabinet  in  his 
last  Annual  Message  to  Congress. 

The  inside  relations  of  this  administration  are  better  revealed  by 
the  impartial  and  searching  investigations  of  Mr.  James  Ford  Rhodes 
than  by  the  eulogies  upon  Jefferson  Davis.  By  importuning  Davis 
to  enter  the  Cabinet,  and  breaking  off  the  arrangement  with  Dix, 
Pierce  had  foreshadowed  a  policy  of  concession  to  the  slave  interest, 
and  had  identified  himself  with  what  proved  to  be  the  controlling 
spirit  in  Congress.  The  rearrangement  of  the  Cabinet  slate  had  done 
much  to  forestall  dissension  in  the  Executive,  but  had  not  entirely 
precluded  it ;  for  Marcy,  despite  his  previously  acceptable  record,  did 
not  show  himself  adaptable  to  the  slave  interest  in  its  new  aspects. 
An  antagonism  immediately  developed  between  Marcy  and  Cushing. 
Less  than  a  month  after  the  inauguration,  this  was  commented  upon 
by  Seward,  who  was  fast  becoming  opposition  leader  in  the  Senate.0 
There  were  also  rumors  inside  of  the  party  loud  enough  to  reach 
Buchanan  at  London.10 

Upon  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  the  Cabinet  became  distinctly 
divided.  The  Daily  Union,  being  the  Democrat  organ,  gave  out  that 
this  was  an  administration  measure.11  And  Seward  believed  that  the 

7  Memoir  of  Jefferson  Davis,  I,  544. 

8  American  Historical  Review,  X,  354. 

9  Seward  at  Washington,  I,  203. 

10  Buchanan  MSS.,  Buchanan  to  Forney,  December  13,  1853. 

11  March  22,  1854. 


PIERCE.  157 

section  for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  agreed  upon 
at  a  meeting  of  Douglas  with  the  whole  Cabinet.12  But  Davis' 
more  authoritative  account  is  to  the  effect  that  Douglas,  with  other 
members  of  the  Committee,  called  first  upon  himself;  and  that  he 
repaired  with  them  to  the  Executive  Mansion,  to  enlist  the  aid  of 
the  President.  He  makes  no  mention  of  other  Secretaries ;  but 
implicitly  denies  that  the  bill  was  prepared  by  the  President  or  any 
member  of  the  Cabinet.13  Gushing  joined  Davis  as  a  champion  of 
the  measure,  but  Marcy  was  uncertain  from  the  first."  McClelland, 
who  represented  the  North-West,  was  also  inactive.  The  Secretary 
of  State  hesitated  more  and  more,  as  he  foresaw  the  effect  of  the 
measure  upon  the  integrity  of  the  Democrat  party;  and  he  finally 
contemplated  resignation  from  the  Cabinet.  Moreover,  it  was  the 
solicitude  of  Marcy's  friends,  lest  his  withdrawal  should  forfeit  all 
that  their  wing  of  the  party  possessed,  more  than  tactful  manage- 
ment on  the  part  of  Pierce,  that  held  him  to  his  post.15 

The  selection  of  Davis  as  the  intermediary  between  the  authors 
of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  and  the  President  is  a  good  measure  of 
the  influence  exerted  by  the  Secretary  of  War  in  this  administration. 
He  largely  dictated  the  behavior  of  the  Executive  towards  the  dis- 
orders in  Kansas,  and  brought  about  the  concessions  to  the  slave 
interest. 

President  Pierce's  habit  of  seeing  things  the  way  his  advisers  saw 
them  has  given  rise  to  a  tradition  that  his  customary  practice  in 
reaching  a  decision  was  to  take  a  poll  of  the  Cabinet,  and  adopt  the 
opinion  of  the  majority.  Stronger  Presidents  than  he  have  resorted 
to  Cabinet  polls  on  occasion ;  and  have  adopted  the  majority  opinion, 
where  they  could  not  see  their  own  way,  or  even  yielded  to  it  on 
minor  points.  The  charge  that  Cabinet  polls  were  habitual  with 
Pierce  scarcely  admits  of  proof  from  such  material  as  is  at  present 
available;  and  should  rather  be  regarded  as  a  general  formula  for 
his  amiable  fashion  of  allowing  his  advisers  to  make  up  his  mind  for 
him. 

12  Seward  at  Washington,  I,  217,  218. 

"Jefferson  Davis,  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate  Government,  I,  27. 
14  Memoirs  of  John  A.  Dix,  I,  285. 

13  Rhodes,  History  of  the  United  States,  I,  481. 


PRESIDENT. 
JAMES  BUCHANAN,   Pennsylvania. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
JOHN   C.   BRECKINRIDGE,  Kentucky. 


March  4,  1857,  to  March  4,  1861. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

riLLiAM  L.  MARCY,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
LEWIS  CASS,  of  Michigan,  March  6.  1857. 

WILLIAM  HUNTER  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  December  13,  1860. 
JEREMIAH  S.  BLACK,  of  Pennsylvania,  December  17,  1860. 

SECRETARY!  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

JAMES  GUTHRIE,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
HOWELL  COBB,  of  Georgia,  March  6,  1857. 

ISAAC  TOUCEY,  of  Connecticut  (Secretary  of  the  Navy),  ad  interim,  Decem- 
ber 10,  1860. 

PHILIP  F.  THOMAS,  of  Maryland,  December  12,  1860. 
JOHN  A.  Dix,  of  New  York,  January  n,  1861. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

SAMUEL  COOPER  (Adjutant-General,  U.  S.  A.),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1857. 
JOHN  B.  FLOYD,  of  Virginia,  March  6,  1857. 
JOSEPH   HOLT,   of   Kentucky    (Postmaster-General),   ad   interim,  January   I, 

1861. 
JOSEPH  HOLT,  of  Kentucky,  January  18,  1861. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 

CALEB  CUSHING,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JEREMIAH  S.  BLACK,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  6,  1857. 
EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  of  Pennsylvania,  December  20,  1860. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

JAMES   CAMPBELL,   of   Pennsylvania;    continued   from   last  Administration. 
AARON  V.  BROWN,  of  Tennessee,  March  6,  1857. 
HORATIO  KING,  of  Maine   (First  Assistant  Postmaster-General),  ad  interim, 

March  9,    1859. 

JOSEPH  HOLT,  of  Kentucky,  March  14,  1859. 
HORATIO  KING,  of  Maine,   (First  Assistant  Postmaster-General),  ad  interim, 

January  I,   1861. 
HORATIO  KING,  of  Maine,  February  12,  1861. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

JAMES  C.  DOBBIN,  of  North  Carolina;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
ISAAC  TOUCEY,  of  Connecticut,  March  6,  1857. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

ROBERT  MCCLELLAND,  of  Michigan;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JACOB  THOMPSON,  of  Mississippi,  March  6,  1857. 
MOSES  KELLY  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  January  10,  1861. 

159 


BUCHANAN 

The  election  of  1856  brought  to  James  Buchanan  the  opportunity 
to  make  a  Cabinet  for  himself;  for  the  former  Secretary  of  State 
and  Minister  to  England  now  received  the  presidential  nomination 
over  Pierce,  who  had  won  in  the  South  a  strong  support  for  a  second 
term  of  office,  but  was  much  less  acceptable  to  the  Northern  Democ- 
racy than  his  rival  from  Pennsylvania.  The  third  candidate  on  the 
list  was  Douglas,  and  at  the  foot  stood  Cass  commanding  only  seven 
votes  at  the  most.  From  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  which  he  had  held 
since  the  inauguration  of  President  Polk,  General  Cass  was  about  to 
be  deposed;  for  his  constituency  was  in  possession  of  the  newly 
formed  Republican  party.  This  at  least  left  him  free  to  receive  more 
distinguished  attention  than  he  ever  had  done  before  in  the  formation 
of  the  Cabinet.  On  February  23,  the  President-elect  wrote  to  the 
English  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs :  "  General  Cass  is  to  be  my 
Secretary  of  State,  and  no  Englishman  need  feel  the  least  uneasiness 
on  this  account.  His  anglophobia,  as  you  used  facetiously  to  term 
it,  if  it  ever  existed,  no  longer  exists.  His  age,  his  patriotism,  his 
long  and  able  public  services,  his  unsullied  private  character  and  the 
almost  universal  feeling  in  his  favor  rendered  his  appointment  pecul- 
iarly appropriate."  *  Since  General  Cass  was  already  in  his  seventy- 
fifth  year,  Buchanan  probably  viewed  this  appointment  as  a  semi- 
honorary  one.  He  himself  was  prepared  to  take  a  more  direct  part 
than  recent  Presidents  had  done  in  foreign  affairs ;  furthermore,  there 
was  now  an  Assistant  Secretary  of  State.  However,  .the  letter  in 
which  the  State  portfolio  was  formally  tendered  to  Cass  paid  a  grace- 
ful compliment  to  the  phenomenal  preservation  of  his  physical  and 
mental  vigor.  The  Treasury  portfolio,  Buchanan  like  Pierce,  as- 
signed to  the  South,  appointing  Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia,  a  man  of 
distinguished  experience  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  later  a 

1  Buchanan  MSS.,  Buchanan  to  Lord  Clarendon,  February  23,  1853. 
ii  161 


162  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

member  of  the  Congress  of  the  Confederacy,  and  an  officer  of  rank  in 
its  army.  Both  for  his  talents  and  his  personal  qualities,  Secretary 
Cobb  was  highly  esteemed  by  Buchanan;  and  it  was  a  source  of 
gratification  that  no  personal  rancor  attended  their  separation.  The 
War  Office  was  conferred  upon  ex-Governor  John  B.  Floyd  of  Vir- 
ginia; an  appointment  for  which  Buchanan  was  afterwards  pleased 
to  excuse  himself  by  saying  that  the  electoral  college  of  Virginia 
had  recommended  Mr.  Floyd  for  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet,  in  which 
matter  that  gentleman  had  shown  a  most  commendable  modesty, 
and  that  the  position  of  his  family  was  also  a  credential.  The  Navy 
Department  was  assigned  to  Isaac  Toucey  of  Connecticut,  who,  like 
Cass,  was  about  to  yield  his  seat  in  the  Senate  to  a  Republican ;  Mr. 
Toucey  had  been  one  of  President  Buchanan's  colleagues  in  the  Polk 
Cabinet.  Jeremiah  S.  Black  of  Pennsylvania,  a  brilliant  lawyer,  and 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State,  became  Attorney- 
General.  The  extraordinary  relation  which  he  afterwards  assumed 
towards  his  nominal  chief  lends  interest  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Buchanan 
subjected  himself  to  a  good  deal  of  opposition  among  the  politicians 
of  Pennsylvania  in  making  this  appointment.3  The  Interior  Depart- 
ment was  assigned  to  Jacob  Thompson  of  Mississippi,  formerly  a 
somewhat  prominent  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  As 
to  whether  this  arrangement  was  dictated  by  Jefferson  Davis,  we  have 
found  no  evidence;  though  the  relations  of  the  parties  concerned 
would  justify  such  an  inference.  Secretary  Thompson  afterwards 
became  Governor  of  Mississippi  under  the  Confederacy,  and  an  of- 
ficer in  the  Confederate  army.  A  Postmaster-General  was  found  in 
the  person  of  ex-Governor  Aaron  V.  Brown  of  Tennessee;  who, 
however,  died  in  office  and  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  Holt  of  Ken- 
tucky. In  the  crisis  of  the  administration,  Mr.  Holt  like  Judge 
Black  became  a  great  executive  force. 

The  significant  period  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet  affairs  does  not  begin 
until  the  election  of  his  successor,  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  the  Pres- 
idency, November  6,  1860.  The  enormous  demand,  made  upon  the 
President  by  the  crisis  that  ensued,  was  met  by  the  assumption  of  a 
virtual  regency  on  the  part  of  such  of  his  Ministers  as  were  loyal  to 

"Buchanan  MSS.,  Buchanan  to  Black,  March  6,  1857. 


BUCHANAN.  163 

the  Union,  a  situation  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  Executive. 
A  necessary  incident  of  this  was  a  Cabinet  reconstruction,  indeed,  we 
are  prompted  to  say,  two  reconstructions ;  for,  although  the  several 
changes  occurred  at  intervals  of  but  a  few  days,  and  only  one  Depart- 
ment twice  changed  hands,  they  reflect  two  distinctly  different  stages 
in  the  handling  of  the  secession  problem. 

The  preparations  for  secession  from  the  Union,  in  which  South 
Carolina  was  taking  the  lead,  called  forth  in  the  President's  Annual 
Message  of  December  3,  1860,  the  declaration  that  secession  was  not 
a  Constitutional  right  of  the  States,  but  along  with  it  the  contrary 
proposition  that  Congress  had  no  authority  to  coerce  into  submission 
a  State  that  had  actually  seceded,  or  was  attempting  such  a  course. 
The  non-coercion  doctrine  had  been  asserted  by  the  Attorney-General 
in  a  recent  opinion;  moreover,  it  had  the  apparent  sanction  of  the 
other  Northern  members.  The  denial  of  a  right  of  secession,  how- 
ever, caused  the  Southern  Secretaries  to  take  issue ;  and  on  Decem- 
ber 8,  Cobb  of  the  Treasury  quitted  the  administration.  However, 
Thompson  of  the  Interior,  who  was  equally  devoted  to  the  Southern 
cause,  stuck  to  his  post,  out  of  deference  to  the  President's  wish  that 
his  Secretaries  should  go  out  of  office  at  the  same  time  with  himself. 

What  the  President  hoped  to  accomplish  by  keeping  the  Cabinet 
outwardly  intact,  after  such  schism  existed  in  its  sentiments  and 
purposes,  would  be  hard  to  tell.  But  it  would  seem  that  he  was 
more  concerned  about  his  personal  relations  than  he  was  about  the 
fate  of  the  Government.  As  he  himself  expressed  it,  six  years  after- 
wards in  his  vindication  of  his  administration :  "  The  President  had 
earnestly  desired  that  his  Cabinet  might  remain  together  until  the 
close  of  the  administration.  He  felt  sensibly  the  necessary  with- 
drawal of  some  of  its  members,  after  all  had  been  so  long  united  in 
bonds  of  mutual  confidence  and  friendship." ' 

Meanwhile,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  was  retained,  although 
he  publically  undertook  the  office  of  Commissioner  of  the  State  of 
Mississippi  to  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  to  influence  the  latter  to 
take  secession  measures.  Secretary  Floyd  likewise  remained  at  his 
post,  despite  suspicion  regarding  the  distribution  of  the  government 

3  The  Administration  of  James  Buchanan,  HI. 


164  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

arms.  Moreover,  the  vacancy  in  the  Treasury  Department  was  filled 
by  the  appointment  of  another  secessionist,  Philip  F.  Thomas  of 
Maryland. 

The  next  break  in  the  Cabinet  came  from  the  North.  General 
Cass,  notwithstanding  his  acquiescence  in  the  doctrine  of  non- 
coercion,  two  weeks  before,  had  felt  his  Union  sentiments  outraged 
at  the  President's  supineness  about  protecting  the  national  property 
in  Charleston  harbor;  and  on  December  12,  with  free  expression  of 
his  views  as  to  his  chief's  behavior  in  the  matter,  he  tendered  a 
formal  resignation  of  the  State  Department,4  the  acceptance  of  which 
was  not  assured  until  three  days  later.  On  the  I3th,  the  retiring  Sec- 
retary attended  a  Cabinet  meeting  and  made  a  final  plea  for  the  forts 
at  Charleston ;  and,  to  quote  Secretary  Floyd's  description :  "  The 
President  said  to  him  in  reply,  with  a  beautiful  countenance  and  with 
a  heroic  decision :....'!  have  considered  this  question.  I  am  sorry 
to  differ  from  the  Secretary  of  State ;  I  have  made  up  my  mind.  The 
interests  of  the  country  do  not  demand  a  reenforcement  of  the  forces 
in  Charleston.  I  cannot  do  it ....  and  I  take  the  responsibility  upon 
myself/  ':  5  Postmaster-General  Holt  tried  to  urge  his  Northern  col- 
leagues to  reconsider  his  action,  averring  that  the  loyal  members  of 
the  Cabinet  ought,  more  than  ever,  to  stick  to  their  posts;  but  the 
aged  Secretary  insisted  that  for  him  to  remain  would  be  treasonable, 
though  the  same  argument  did  not  apply  to  a  member  from  a  border 
State.  On  the  I5th,  the  President  accepted  the  resignation  by  formal 
letter,  reiterating  his  determination  not  to  strengthen  the  forces  at 
Charleston.  The  blunt  frankness  of  this  affair  left  a  wound  that 
always  rankled  in  Mr.  Buchanan's  breast;  and  while  dealing  gently 
with  the  memory  of  his  Southern  colleagues  in  his  later  utterances, 
he  was  not  averse  to  disparaging  the  record  of  General  Cass.  In  pre- 
paring his  vindication  of  his  administration,  he  purposed  to  say  that 
the  Secretary  of  State  had  sought  to  recall  his  resignation,  but  that 
the  President  would  not  permit  him  to  do  so ;  however,  Judge  Black, 
whose  account  of  an  interview  with  Cass  was  to  be  used  for  evidence, 

*  Curtis,  Life  of  Buchanan,  II,  397. 

3  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  II,  396-398. 

8  Buchanan  MSS.,  Buchanan  to  Toucey,  May  13,  1864. 


BUCHANAN.  165 

declined  to  make  any  statement  for  publication.8  The  break  in  the 
State  Department  was  tided  over  by  the  Assistant  Secretary  William 
F.  Trescott,  who  was  a  South  Carolinian,  and  was  using  his  office  to 
the  advantage  of  that  State.  But  December  17,  Attorney-General 
Black  was  promoted  to  the  State  Department ;  and  was  promptly  suc- 
ceeded in  his  former  office  by  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  also  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, which  arrangement  seems  to  have  been  a  condition  of  Black's 
acceptance  of  the  more  responsible  post.7  Probably  General  Cass's 
refusal  to  associate  with  such  an  administration  longer  had  not  been 
without  effect  upon  the  loyal  sentiment  in  the  Cabinet.  The  same 
spectacle  that  had  wrought  upon  him  had  worked  a  simultaneous 
development  in  the  views  of  Black.  November  20,  as  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, he  had  given  an  opinion  against  offensive  coercion  by  the  Na- 
tional Government ;  but  early  in  December,  he  asserted  in  a  memor- 
andum to  the  President  a  right  of  coercion  for  defensive  purposes.8 
Furthermore,  Mr.  Stanton,  whom  he  selected  for  his  successor  in  the 
Attorney-Generalship  was  known  to  be  in  accord  with  himself  in  his 
Union  sentiments.  The  yielding  of  Buchanan  to  this  influence,  may 
be  viewed  as  the  preparation  for  the  stand  of  the  Executive  against 
secession. 

The  next  change  in  the  Cabinet  had  other  significance  than  the 
sectional  crisis ;  but  was  permitted  to  be  glossed  over,  as  of  one  kind 
with  the  other  resignations.  It  transpired  that  Secretary  Floyd  was 
implicated  in  a  defalcation  in  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs,  where 
his  notes  were  appearing  in  lieu  of  bonds  amounting  to  nearly  a 
million  of  dollars.  On  December  23,  President  Buchanan  preserving 
his  wonted  graciousness  by  making  one  of  Mr.  Floyd's  friends  his 
agent,  communicated  a  request  for  the  Secretary's  resignation,  and 
received  an  answer  that  the  request  would  be  complied  with;  no 
resignation  followed,  however,  until  the  shaping  of  the  Southern 
question  afforded  a  good  pretext  for  quitting  the  War  Department. 
The  removal  of  the  United  States  garrison  at  Charleston  from  Fort 
Moultrie  to  Fort  Sumter,  together  with  the  arrival  of  the  South 
Carolina  Commissioners  at  Washington,  brought  the  opportunity; 

7  Gorham,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  I,  131. 

8  Gorham,  Ed-win  M.  Stanton,  I,  122. 


i66  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

and  Mr.  Buchanan  himself  gives  a  partial  account  of  the  insolent 
manner  in  which  it  was  embraced.  The  Cabinet  was  now  in  almost 
continuous  session ;  and  at  a  meeting  of  December  27,  the  Secretary 
of  War,  who  had  not  resorted  to  secession  utterances  before,  pre- 
sented a  paper  in  which  he  charged  that  Major  Anderson's  removal 
from  Moultrie  to  Sumter  was  a  gross  violation  of  solemn  pledges, 
and  demanded  that  the  garrison  be  withdrawn  altogether.9  The 
posibility  of  the  President's  acceding  to  this  demand  caused  the  new 
Attorney-General  and  presumably  some  of  his  colleagues  to  prepare 
for  resignation;10  but  the  issue  was  .that  the  Secretary  of  War  re- 
signed. Incidentally  to  the  discussion  of  the  proposition  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  garrison,  Mr.  Stanton  referred  to  the  disappearance  of 
the  Indian  trust  funds,  and  Mr.  Floyd  did  not  appear  again  among 
his  colleagues.  On  the  29th,  being  Saturday,  he  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion on  the  ground  that  he  could  not  be  .the  agent  of  the  Government  in 
its  policy  of  bloodshed."  The  following  Monday,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral Holt  was  put  in  charge  of  the  War  Department,  at  first  tem- 
porarily. 

The  establishment  of  the  Cabinet  Regency  is  signalized  by  the  prep- 
aration of  the  reply  of  the  Executive  to  the  Commissioners  from 
South  Carolina  as  much  as  by  any  one  event.  On  the  night  of 
December  29,  President  Buchanan  submitted  a  letter  which  he  had 
prepared,  announcing,  in  reply  to  the  demands  of  the  Commissioners, 
a  continuation  of  his  policy  of  inaction.  Only  Secretary  Toucey,  the 
member  from  New  England  approved.  Thompson  and  Thomas 
wished  that  the  answer  should  be  one  of  concession  to  the  South, 
while  Black,  Stanton,  and  Holt  demanded  that  it  should  declare  an 
unmistakable  purpose  to  preserve  the  Union.  The  President  adhered 
to  his  plan  of  neutrality,  however,  until  news  was  brought  to  him  on 
the  following  morning  that  Secretary  Black  had  announced  a  deter- 
mination to  withdraw  from  his  service.  A  hurried  interview  with 
that  officer  led  to  the  surrender  of  the  important  paper  into  his  hands ; 
and  Black  assisted  by  Stanton,  with  Holt  concurring,  drafted  a  substi- 

9  Administration  of  James  Buchanan,  185-188. 
10Gorham,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  I,  156. 
u  Gorham,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  I,  154. 


BUCHANAN.  167 

tute  with  the  President's  promise  that  he  would  sign  what  they 
submitted.12  It  is  asserted  by  one  authority  that  the  President  did 
not  actually  use  the  reply  prepared  by  his  Ministers  but  a  second  one 
of  his  own  preparation.13  Howbeit,  the  insolent  rejoinder  of  the 
South  Carolina  agents,  with  other  occurences,  constrained  him  to 
yield  to  the  Unionist  influence. 

The  second  reconstruction  of  the  Cabinet  now  occurred.  January 
2,  a  meeting  was  held  to  consider  the  reenforcement  of  the  garrison 
at  Charleston.  Six  days  later  occurred  the  expedition  of  the  Star 
of  the  West;  and  Thompson  siezed  it  as  a  pretext  for  resignation. 
So  recently  as  December  31,  the  President  had  followed  up  his  reply 
to  the  South  Carolina  Commissioners  with  the  suspension  of  orders 
for  the  sailing  of  the  Brooklyn;  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
had  won  from  him  a  promise  not  to  resume  the  reenforcement  plan 
without  previous  discussion  in  Cabinet.  Notwithstanding  the  session 
of  January  2,  the  Secretary  boldly  accused  his  chief  of  bad  faith; 
and  for  once  Mr.  Buchanan  returned  a  spirited  answer.1*  During  the 
remainder  of  the  administration  the  direction  of  the  Interior  Depart- 
ment devolved  upon  its  chief  clerk. 

One  day  later,  January  9,  Thomas  was  forced  out  of  the  Treasury. 
The  bankers  and  capitalists  of  New  York  City,  impelled  by  the 
impending  financial  situation,  had  communicated  to  the  President  a 
resolution  to  enter  into  no  fiscal  transactions  with  the  National 
Government,  until  he  placed  in  the  Cabinet  men  upon  whom  the 
friends  of  the  Union  could  depend;  and  they  further  made  the 
specific  condition  that  John  A.  Dix  should  be  appointed  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  At  an  interview  of  January  8,  Mr.  Dix  was  offered 
the  War  Department,  which  had  not  had  a  regular  incumbent  since 
Secretary  Floyd's  withdrawal.  The  President  was  informed  that 
only  the  Treasury  would  be  considered ;  and  having  secured  the  resig- 
nation of  Thomas,  for  which  the  Star  of  the  West  expedition 
afforded  a  timely  pretext,  he  appointed  Mr.  Dix  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  on  January  n."  On  the  I7th,  Mr.  Holt  was  regularly 

"Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  III,  73-86. 

18  Gorham,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  I,  147. 

"  Buchanan  MSS.,  Buchanan  to  Thompson,  January  9,  1861. 

15  Memoirs  of  John  A.  Dix,  I,  362. 


i68  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

appointed  Secretary  of  War,  the  vacancy  in  the  Post  Office  being 
filled  by  the  promotion  of  Horatio  King,  previously  First  Assistant 
Postmaster-General. 

The  Cabinet  Regency  was  now  fully  established,  Black,  Stanton, 
Holt,  and  Dix  being  its  members.  The  triumph  of  Union  sentiment 
in  the  Executive  had  been  signalized  January  8,  by  the  transmission 
of  a  message  to  Congress  wherein  the  right  of  defensive  coercion 
was  asserted,  after  the  manner  of  Judge  Black's  memorandum  of  a 
month  before.  This  was  followed  by  numerous  acts  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  laws  of  the  National  Government  within  the  disaffected 
States.  But  every  important  measure  was  traceable  to  the  four 
Ministers.18  And  such  resistance  as  their  nominal  chief  occasionally 
opposed  to  their  movements  was  promptly  overcome." 

Under  the  second  group  of  Democrat  Presidents,  the  Cabinet  had 
unmistakably  gathered  head  as  a  part  of  the  Executive.  It  remained 
to  be  seen  whether  it  could  preserve  such  a  dominant  position  in  the 
hands  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

"  Rhodes,  History  of  the  United  States,  III,  287. 
17  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  III,  130. 


PRESIDENT. 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  Illinois. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
HANNIBAL  HAMLIN,  Maine. 


March  4,   1861,  to  March  4,   1865. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
JEREMIAH  S.  BLACK,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  of  New  York,  March  5,  1861. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

JOHN  A.  Dix,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
SALMON  P.  CHASE,  of  Ohio,  March  5,  1861. 
GEORGE    HARRINGTON,    of  the    District   of    Columbia    (Assistant    Secretary), 

ad  interim,  July  I,  1864. 

WILLIAM  P.  FESSENDEN,  of  Maine,  July  I,  1864. 
GEORGE   HARRINGTON,   of   the   District    of   Columbia    (Assistant    Secretary), 

ad  interim,  March  4,  1865. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

JOSEPH  HOLT,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
SIMON  CAMERON,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  5,  1861. 
EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  of  Pennsylvania,  January  15,  1862. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
EDWARD  BATES,  of  Missouri,  March  5,  1861. 
JAMES  SPEED,  of  Kentucky,  December  2,  1864. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

HORATIO  KING,  of  Maine;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
MONTGOMERY  BLAIR,  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  March  5,  1861. 
WILLIAM  DENNISON,  of  Ohio,  September  24,  1864. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

ISAAC  TOUCEY,  of  Connecticut;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
GIDEON  WELLES,  of  Connecticut,  March  5,  1861. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

MOSES  KELLY  (Chief  Clerk),  ad  interim,  March  4,  1861. 
CALEB  B.  SMITH,  of  Indiana,  March  5,  1861. 
JOHN  P.  USHER,  of  Indiana   (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  January  I, 

1863. 
JOHN  P.  USHER,  of  Indiana,  January  8,  1863. 

169 


PRESIDENT. 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  Illinois.     (Died  April  15,  1865.) 

VICE-  PRESIDENT. 
ANDREW  JOHNSON,  Tennessee. 


March  4,  1865,  to  April  15,  1865. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
WILLIAM  H.   SEWARD,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 
GEORGE  HARRINGTON,  of  the  District  of  Columbia  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad 

interim,  March  4,  1865. 
HUGH  McCuLLOCH,  of  Indiana,  March  7,  1865. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 
EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 
JAMES  SPEED,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 
WILLIAM  DENNISON,  of  Ohio;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 
GIDEON  WELLES,  of  Connecticut;  continued  from  last  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 
JOHN  P.  USHER,  of  Indiana;  continued  from  last  Administration. 


170 


LINCOLN. 

There  is  a  dramatic  story,  which  owes  its  authority  to  Gideon 
Welles,  that  Lincoln  thought  out  the  personnel  of  his  Cabinet,  during 
the  wakeful  hours  that  followed  his  departure,  in  the  early  morning 
of  Wednesday,  November  7,  1860,  from  the  little  telegraph  office  at 
Springfield,  where  he  had  awaited  the  returns  from  the  elections.1 
The  fewness  and  directness  of  the  strokes  with  which  he  afterwards 
accomplished  the  task,  that  under  the  circumstances  was  nothing  less 
than  colossal,  also  point  to  an  early  and  thorough  grasp  of  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  his  administration  should  be  made  up.  For,  from 
the  time  when  he  began  his  definite  arrangements,  early  in  December, 
until  their  completion,  the  day  after  his  inauguration,  the  only  matter 
of  serious  doubt  was  what  representation  could  be  given  to  the  South. 

One  of  the  rules  that  he  fixed  upon  was  to  divide  the  Cabinet  as 
equally  as  might  be  between  the  old  Whigs  and  Democrats,  in 
recognition  that  the  Republican  party  was  a  fusion.  Another  was 
to  bind  together  the  several  personal  factions  by  taking  his  compet- 
itors for  the  presidential  nomination  to  be  his  official  advisers.  The 
former  geographical  code  was  to  be  changed,  only  as  the  dismembered 
condition  of  the  Union  should  render  impossible  the  proportional 
representation  of  the  slave  interest;  though  it  was  evident  that  the 
modification  would  have  to  be  a  great  one. 

Those  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  rivals  who  had  shown  the  strongest  sup- 
port were  William  H.  Seward  of  New  York,  Simon  Cameron  of 
Pennsylvania,  Salmon  P.  Chase  of  Ohio,  all  of  them  members  of 
the  United  States  Senate,  though  Chase  had  more  recently  been 
Governor  of  his  State,  and  Edward  Bates  of  Missouri,  a  prominent 
figure  in  Western  politics.  Of  these  Seward  and  Bates  had  been 
previously  Whigs,  Cameron  and  Chase,  Democrats.  So  soon  as  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  apprized  of  his  nomination,  he  had  settled  upon  Seward 

Atlantic  Monthly,  CIII,  No.  2;  Diary  of  Gideon  Welles. 

171 


172  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

and  Bates  for  members  of  his  Cabinet;  and  had  assigned  to  Mr. 
Seward,  by  virtue  of  his  political  seniority  and  his  long  and  varied 
experience  of  public  affairs,  the  State  Department.  He  made  the 
formal  tender  by  a  letter  of  December  8,  1860,  and  shortly  received 
an  acceptance,  Mr.  Seward  himself  not  visiting  Springfield,  though 
his  representative,  Thurlow  Weed,  duly  appeared  there  in  the  throng 
of  Cabinet  makers.  On  the  i8th,  Mr.  Bates,  whom  the  President-elect 
had  approached  in  a  peculiarly  complimentary  way,  visited  Spring- 
field in  person ;  and  was  given  authority  to  publish  in  the  Missouri 
Democrat  that  he  would  be  offered  and  would  accept  a  place  in  the 
new  Cabinet,  though  the  particular  post  was  not  yet  determined. 

Meanwhile  politicians  were  circulating  the  report  that  the  new 
President  would,  in  view  of  the  peculiar  situation,  include  among 
his  official  advisers,  several  of  his  political  enemies,  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
sought  to  quiet  this  by  inserting  a  pointed  editorial  in  the  Illinois 
Journal  of  December  12:  "We  hear  such  frequent  allusions  to  a 
supposed  purpose  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  call  into  his  Cabinet 
two  or  three  Southern  gentlemen  from  the  parties  opposed  to  him 
politically,  that  we  are  prompted  to  ask  a  few  questions.  First,  is  it 
known  that  any  such  gentleman  of  character  would  accept  a  place  in 
the  Cabinet?  Second,  if  yea,  on  what  terms  does  he  surrender  to 
Mr.  Lincoln,  or  Mr.  Lincoln  to  him,  on  the  political  differences 
between  them ;  or  do  they  enter  upon  the  administration  in  open 
opposition  to  each  other  ?  " 

Pennsylvania  was  again  asking  for  the  Treasury;  and  various 
considerations  pointed  to  Simon  Cameron  as  the  most  suitable  repre- 
sentative of  that  State.  Mr.  Cameron  was  bidden  to  Springfield,  and 
on  December  31,  departed  from  there  with  a  written  statement  that 
he  would  be  nominated  either  for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  or  Sec- 
retary of  War,  the  indefiniteness  being  due  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  own 
inclination  towards  Governor  Chase  for  his  Minister  of  Finance. 
This  engagement  proved  to  be  a  most  embarrassing  one;  for  three 
days  after  it  was  made,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  constrained  to  withdraw  the 
offer  and  hold  the  Pennsylvania  appointment  open.  On  the  day  of 
Cameron's  departure,  moreover,  Mr.  Chase  had  been  summoned  to 
Springfield,  where  Lincoln  made  certain  propositions  regarding  the 


LINCOLN.  173 

Treasury  with  accompanying  explanation  that  Mr.  Seward  was  to 
be  Secretary  of  State.  However,  he  made  no  engagement  with 
Chase,  which  seems  to  indicate  that  he  shrank  from  too  great  haste 
in  setting  over  against  each  other  those  two  great  men,  differing  as 
they  did  in  temperament  and  political  antecedents,  and  giving  promise 
of  rivalry  for  future  preferment. 

Though  not  giving  his  confidence  to  his  prospective  Secretary  of 
State  in  such  measure  as  some  Presidents-elect  have  done,  he  was 
in  correspondence  with  him,  especially  upon  the  subject  of  finding 
representative  Southern  gentlemen,  identified  with  the  slave  interest, 
whom  loyalty  to  the  Union  might  render  eligible  to  a  place  in  the 
National  Executive;  a  project  which  was  especially  attractive  to  Mr. 
Seward.  In  this  correspondence  were  considered  Randall  Hunt  of 
Louisiana,  John  A.  Gilmer  and  Kenneth  Raynor,  both  of  North 
Carolina,  and  Robert  E.  Scott  of  Virginia.  Up  to  the  close  of  Janu- 
ary, strong  hopes  were  entertained  of  an  arrangement  with  Mr. 
Gilmer,  but  it  was  a  very  serious  difficulty  that  that  gentleman 
advocated  the  extension  of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  he  more- 
over advised  that  the  President-elect  should  seek  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  South  by  means  of  a  published  letter  defining  his 
position,  which  expedient  Lincoln  viewed  as  a  practical  apology  for 
having  been  elected.  Mr.  Gilmer  declined  to  visit  Springfield ;  and 
no  further  attempt  was  made  to  find  a  Cabinet  Minister  south  of  the 
border  slave  States. 

Lincoln  had  early  settled  in  his  own  mind  upon  Gideon  Welles  of 
Connecticut  to  be  the  member  from  New  England.  Mr.  Welles  was 
a  man  of  advanced  years,  and  an  old  time  Democrat,  who  had  latterly 
enjoyed  no  particular  influence  in  his  section.  In  Jackson's  time,  he 
had  held  office  under  the  government  of  his  State,  and  Polk  had 
made  him  the  head  of  a  bureau  in  the  Navy  Department.  It  was  for 
the  Navy  portfolio  that  he  was  now  slated.  The  choice  was  appro- 
priately referred  to  one  of  the  Senators  from  Connecticut,  and  to 
the  Vice-President-elect,  Hamilton  Hamlin  of  Maine,  and  others, 
who  confirmed  it.  Between  Lincoln  and  Hamlin,  there  was  a  per- 
sonal interview  at  Chicago,  two  weeks  after  the  election,  that  was 
the  occasion  of  Cabinet  discussion. 


174  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Meanwhile,  politicians  from  Indiana  were  not  slow  to  wait  upon 
the  President-elect;  for  in  the  new  geographical  adjustment,  that 
State  had  appeared  upon  the  list  of  those  that  an  administration  must 
reckon  with.  Two  "  favorite  sons  "  were  urged  for  the  Cabinet, 
Schuyler  Colfax  and  Caleb  B.  Smith,  the  former  a  member  and  the 
latter  an  ex-member  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Mr.  Smith 
was  decided  upon  for  the  Interior  Department,  being  preferred,  as 
Lincoln  graciously  wrote  his  competitor,  for  his  more  advanced  years, 
which  left  him  little  prospect  of  a  career  in  the  future. 

Of  these  several  arrangements,  only  those  with  Seward  and  Bates 
were  complete,  when  Lincoln  arrived  at  Washington,  February  23. 
Chase  and  Smith  were  under  advisement;  and  Welles  had  not  yet 
been  approached.  An  engagement  with  Pennsylvania  had  been 
broken  off,  while  nothing  had  been  accomplished  towards  finding 
the  seventh  member,  who,  as  it  was  determined,  was  to  come  from 
a  loyal  slave  State.  In  perfecting  his  arrangements,  Mr.  Lincoln 
renewed  his  offer  of  the  War  Department  to  Cameron,  with  tactful 
explanation  that  he  no  longer  regarded  the  objections  which  had 
been  raised  as  vital ;  and  Mr.  Cameron  accepted.  The  general  plan 
of  the  new  administration  was  almost  broken  in  two,  however,  by 
the  selection  of  the  Postmaster-General.  This  portfolio  was  assigned 
to  Maryland,  where  Winter  Davis  was  passed  over  in  favor  of  Mont- 
gomery Blair,  son  of  Frank  P.  Blair,  former  editor  of  the  Globe,  and 
brother  of  Frank  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  who  was  to  attain  some  prominence 
as  a  Republican  Congressman  from  Missouri,  and  as  a  General  in  the 
Union  Army,  the  reason  for  the  preference  being  that  Mr.  Davis 
had  formerly  been  a  Whig,  while  Mr.  Blair  preserved  the  traditions 
of  the  Jackson  Democrats.  It  is  said  that  this  decision,  whereby  the 
odd  portfolio  went  to  the  former  Democrats,  was  one  of  the  occasions 
when  Mr.  Lincoln  remarked  that  he  himself  had  been  an  old  line 
Whig,  and  would  always  be  present  to  make  the  parties  even.8  But 
the  prospective  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Seward,  had  been  accumulat- 
ing a  bundle  of  grievances  of  which  this  was  the  last  straw.  The 
closing  of  the  arrangement  with  Chase  threatened  his  own  hoped  for 
supremacy  in  the  administration,  and  in  his  misconception  of  how  the 

8  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  III,  369. 


LINCOLN.  175 

Cabinet  was  to  be  operated,  he  assumed  that  with  four  portfolios  in 
the  hands  of  Democrats,  and  only  three  in  the  hands  of  Whigs,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  would  outweigh  him.  On  March  2,  he 
entered  a  request  to  withdraw  his  acceptance  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment; and  Lincoln  was  far  enough  from  truckling  to  him  to  say: 
"  When  that  slate  breaks  again,  it  will  break  at  the  top."  Other  Presi- 
dents have  been  left  in  the  lurch  at  the  last  moment ;  but  none  have 
emerged  so  triumphantly  as  Lincoln.  On  the  day  of  his  inauguration, 
he  pressed  upon  Seward,  both  by  correspondence  and  interview,  the 
plea  that  the  public  service  needed  him;  and  the  following  day  the 
resignation  was  recalled.  Accordingly,  on  March  5,  the  nominations 
were  made  and  confirmed  with  feeble  opposition  to  Blair  and  Bates. 

The  new  President  had  had  extraordinary  success  in  combining 
in  seven  men  requisites  of  locality,  influence,  and  political  antecedents 
with  a  very  high  order  of  training  and  ability ;  but  he  had  brought 
together  such  varying  personalities  and  conflicting  temperaments 
that  the  most  tactful  control  was  necessary.  Nicolay  and  Hay  remark 
that  in  weaker  hands  than  Lincoln's  such  a  Cabinet  would  have 
proved  a  hot-bed  of  strife,  while  under  him,  it  became  a  tower  of 
strength.  But,  according  to  the  lively  disclosures  of  Gideon  Welles* 
Diary,  it  did  not  fail  of  being  a  hot-bed  of  strife  also. 

It  is  impossible  to  appreciate  the  difficulty  with  which  men  in  public 
life  in  1861  came  to  understand  that  a  man,  who  was  but  recently 
a  second  rate  Illinois  lawyer,  had  suddenly  become  the  real  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  United  States.  And  it  was  favorable  to  miscon- 
ception that  Lincoln  showed  more  than  ordinary  deliberateness,  while 
he  discussed  with  the  Cabinet  and  the  head  of  the  army  the  situa- 
tion at  the  Southern  harbors.  After  the  administration  had  lagged 
a  month,  Seward  was  convinced  that  the  Government  needed  a  Prime 
Minister,  and  opened  formal  arrangements  for  assuming  that  role. 
There  are  very  few  instances  in  which  Cabinet  officers  have  been  bold 
enough  to  make  formal  demands  of  their  chief ;  and  this  proposition 
that  the  President  vest  the  general  functions  of  his  office  in  the 
Secretary  of  State  stands  by  itself. 

On  April  I,  1861,  Seward  transmitted  to  Lincoln  a  paper  bearing 
the  title,  "  Some  Thoughts  for  the  President's  Consideration." 


176  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Premising  that  a  month  had  passed  without  determining  upon  an 
administration  policy,  either  domestic  or  foreign,  he  ventured  to  offer 
his  own  ideas.  With  little  appreciation  of  what  the  "  irrepressible 
conflict "  had  come  to,  he  proposed  a  domestic  policy  that  should 
divert  the  people  from  the  question  of  slavery  to  a  broader  one  of 
union  and  patriotism ;  while  in  the  foreign  field  he  would  inaugurate 
an  ambitious  movement  against  European  intervention,  to  the  extent 
of  convening  Congress  and  declaring  war  on  France,  Great  Britain, 
and  Spain,  unless  satisfactory  explanations  could  be  secured  of  their 
designs  in  Mexico.  The  pith  of  the  "  Thoughts  "  is  the  Secretary's 
offer  to  assume  the  direction  of  "  the  administration."  "  Whatever 
policy  we  adopt,  there  must  be  an  energetic  prosecution  of  it.  For 
this  purpose  it  must  be  somebody's  business  to  pursue  and  direct  it 
incessantly.  Either  the  President  must  do  it  himself,  and  be  all  the 

while  active  in  it,  or  devolve  it  on  some  member  of  his  Cabinet 

Once  adopted,  debates  on  it  must  end  and  all  agree  and  abide. 
It  is  not  my  special  province,  but  I  neither  seek  to  evade  nor  assume 
responsibility." 

The  President  promptly  replied  to  all  the  points  in  respectful  but 
decisive  terms,  disposing  of  the  crucial  question  as  follows :  "  Upon 
your  closing  propositions  I  remark  that  if  this  must  be  done,  I  must 
do  it.  When  a  general  line  of  policy  is  adopted,  I  apprehend  there 
is  no  danger  of  its  being  changed  without  good  reason,  or  continuing 
to  be  a  subject  of  unnecessary  debate ;  still  upon  points  arising  in  its 
progress  I  wish,  and  suppose  I  am  entitled  to  have,  the  advice  of  all 
.the  Cabinet."  3 

This  remarkable  overture  did  not  go  beyond  Lincoln's  knowledge ; 
and  the  tactful  rebuff  served  to  orient  the  Secretary  of  State  as  to 
his  relation  to  the  President.  Nevertheless,  Seward  sometimes 
improved  the  opportunities  for  overstepping  Departmental  bounds, 
which  the  inordinate  stress  of  business  afforded.  A  familiar  instance 
is  his  ordering  an  expedition  to  Pensacola,  without  the  previous 
knowledge  of  the  War  and  Navy  Departments ;  on  which  occasion 
the  President  admitted  that  he  had  signed  a  number  of  papers  with- 
out being  aware  of  their  contents,  but  asked  what  he  was  to  do, 

8Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  III,  445. 


LINCOLN.  177 

if  he  could  not  trust  the  Secretary  of  State.*  Another  is  his  com- 
munication to  the  British  Legation  that  the  mails  carried  by  captured 
merchant  vessels  would  not  be  searched.5  However,  more  than  or- 
dinary confidence  was  reposed  by  Lincoln  in  his  Secretary  of  State, 
which  resulted  from  the  fact  that  Seward  was  in  better  accord  than 
any  of  his  colleagues  with  the  President's  individual  views,  and  was 
assisted  by  the  circumstance  of  his  residing  near  the  White  House. 
At  Seward's  death  his  eulogist,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  regarding 
the  Lincoln  administration  from  a  diplomat's  point  of  view,  asserted 
that  the  Secretary  of  State  had  been  the  real  head  of  the  Executive.6 
The  surviving  members  of  the  Lincoln  Cabinet,  Gideon  Welles  and 
Montgomery  Blair,  published  a  reply  to  Mr.  Adams,  in  which  they 
assigned  to  their  late  colleague  a  place  of  sufficient  subordination  to 
their  common  chief  to  satisfy  any  qualms  of  jealousy  that  his  real 
priority  in  Lincoln's  counsels  might  have  aroused.7 

Before  the  first  year  of  the  administration  had  passed,  Secretary 
Cameron  of  the  War  Department  was  superseded  by  Edwin  M. 
Stanton,  who  showed  himself  comparable  with  Seward  and  Chase 
as  one  of  the  administration  forces. 

The  issue  of  Cameron's  appointment  to  the  War  Office  had  been 
that  the  Department  was  virtually  put  in  commission  for  the  next 
nine  months,  its  appropriate  duties  being  shared  by  the  Secretaries 
of  State  and  the  Treasury.  The  Department  was  infested  with 
secessionists  like  the  others,  and  it  had  fallen  into  a  particularly 
bad  condition  through  the  misconduct  of  Secretary  Floyd ;  moreover, 
it  was  the  first  to  feel  the  demands  of  the  Civil  War.  To  these  Cam- 
eron proved  quite  inadequate ;  and  much  of  the  work  of  organizing 
troops  devolved  upon  Chase,8  while  military  arrests  were  put  within 
the  competence  of  Seward.  Furthermore,  scandals  arose  concerning 
contracts  in  both  the  War  and  Navy  Departments ;  and  an  investiga- 
tion by  Congress  resulted  in  Cameron's  censure,  though  this  was 

4  Welles,  Lincoln  and  Seward,  68,  70. 

5  Atlantic  Monthly,  CIII,  No.  5 ;  Diary  of  Gideon  Welles. 

6  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Address  on  the  Life,  Character,  and  Services  of 
William  H.  Seward. 

7  Gideon  Welles,  Lincoln  and  Seward. 

8  Hart,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  211. 

12 


178  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

afterwards  recalled  with  Lincoln's  approval.  However,  the  Secretary 
of  War  in  his  Annual  Report  overstepped  his  authority  by  advocating 
a  policy  in  which  the  President  was  not  prepared  to  sustain  him,  viz., 
the  arming  of  fugitive  negroes,  and  by  giving  the  report  for  publica- 
tion, before  it  had  been  censored;  whereupon  the  President's  order 
that  the  paragraph  be  retracted  caused  much  embarrassment.  This 
combination  of  difficulties,  in  which  incompetency  probably  had  the 
greatest  weight,  caused  Lincoln  to  rid  himself  of  Cameron  as  a  Sec- 
retary and  Cabinet  officer,  in  January,  1862,  the  dismissal  being 
softened  by  the  tender  of  the  Mission  to  Russia,  which  Cameron  did 
not  want,  but  accepted  for  a  short  time ; 9  and  further  mitigated  by 
the  publication  of  a  more  complimentary  correspondence  on  the  sub- 
ject than  the  one  that  had  actually  passed.10 

In  his  dealing  with  Cameron,  Lincoln  had  shown  great  power  to 
avoid  giving  offence;  but  he  showed  equally  great  superiority  to 
taking  it,  when  he  called  Stanton  into  his  service.  Mr.  Stanton  had 
not  allied  himself  with  the  Republicans  in  the  presidential  election. 
Moreover,  the  whole  tone  of  his  correspondence  during  the  first 
months  of  the  administration  and  the  early  repulses  to  the  Union 
arms  had  been  one  of  contempt  for  Mr.  Lincoln.  A  specimen  may 
be  found  in  one  of  his  letters  to  ex- President  Buchanan,  written  after 
the  defeat  at  Bull  Run :  "  It  is  not  unlikely  that  some  changes  in 
the  War  and  Navy  Departments  may  take  place,  but  none  beyond 
those  two  Departments,  until  Jeff  Davis  turns  out  the  whole  concern. 
....  While  Lincoln,  Scott,  and  the  Cabinet  are  disputing  who 
are  to  blame,  the  city  is  unguarded,  and  the  enemy  at  hand."  u  Stan- 
ton's  biographer,  Gorham,  extenuates  these  expressions  as  mere  ex- 
amples of  the  great  Secretary's  hasty  temper  and  abrupt  speech.  Lin- 
coln was  probably  aware  that  he  was  not  regarded  with  approval  by 
the  man  whom  he  selected  for  so  great  a  trust ;  but  he,  of  all  Presi- 
dents, was  best  able  to  overlook  personal  considerations  for  the  sake 
of  the  public  interest.  There  was  much  to  recommend  Mr.  Stanton  for 

9  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  V,  127. 

10  Rhodes,  History  of  the  United  States,  III,  576;  McClure,  Lincoln  and  the 
Men  of  War  Times,  150. 

11  Gorham,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  I,  223. 


LINCOLN.  179 

the  office  in  question.  His  energetic  services  at  the  crisis  of  the  last 
administration  had  won  him  great  prestige.  He  had  shown  himself  a 
supporter  of  the  Union.  Furthermore,  he  satisfied  the  same  require- 
ment of  locality  as  his  predecessor,  being  a  Pennsylvanian.  The 
credit  for  selecting  Stanton  was  claimed  by  several  of  the  Cabinet  of- 
ficers, including  Cameron  himself,  which  presumably  means  that  Lin- 
coln made  previous  mention  of  the  appointment  to  two  or  three  of 
them.  Such  surprise  was  caused  in  the  Senate  at  the  naming  of  a 
member  of  the  late  administration  for  Secretary  of  War,  that  the 
nomination  was  referred;  and  Secretary  Chase,  of  whom  the  com- 
mittee sought  an  explanation,  was  prepared  to  recommend  that  Mr. 
Stanton  be  confirmed. 

In  the  second  year  of  the  Lincoln  administration,  there  occurred 
the  most  significant  attempt  to  dictate  the  Cabinet  relations  and  pro- 
cedure by  Congressional  interference  that  the  history  of  the  Govern- 
ment affords.  A  variety  of  facts  entered  into  the  situation  which 
prompted  this.  The  war  had  not  been  successfully  prosecuted; 
General  McClellan's  command  had  been  especially  futile;  and  there 
was  a  disposition  to  charge  the  disasters  to  the  Executive  mismanage- 
ment. The  Cabinet  as  a  council  had  not  been  sufficiently  in  evidence 
to  satisfy  those  members  of  the  Government  who  thought  that  the 
existing  crisis  demanded  increased  consultation  rather  than  the 
opposite.  His  military  counsels  President  Lincoln  was  disposed  to 
hold  with  a  few  chosen  officers  of  whom  the  Secretary  of  War  and 
the  General-in-Chief  of  the  Army  were  the  principals ;  not  even  the 
great  army  appointments  were  referred  to  the  Cabinet  with  any 
regularity. 

The  President  was  furthermore  disposed  to  emphasize  the  separate 
character  of  the  Department  Heads  over  the  collective  in  meeting  the 
unprecedented  demands  of  the  Government  upon  the  Executive. 
Thus  it  was  only  the  President,  much  of  the  time,  that  listened  to  the 
despatches  of  the  Secretary  of  State ; 12  and  in  similar  fashion,  the 
business  of  the  Treasury  was  despatched.13  The  result  was  a  some- 
what irregular  existence  for  the  Cabinet  council,  and  it  began  to  be 

12Fessenden,  Wiliam  Pitt  Fessenden,  I,  242. 

"Hugh  McCulloch,  Men  and  Measures  of  Half  a  Century,  199. 


i8o  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

said  that  there  was  "  no  Cabinet "  and  "  no  administration  in  the  pro- 
per sense,"  a  charge  Secretary  Chase  was  largely  responsible  for.  Re- 
presenting the  opinion  of  the  radical  Republicans,  that  the  extermina- 
tion of  slavery  should  be  immediate,  and  not  made  to  wait  upon  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  Chase  was  at  variance  with  the  dilatoriness 
of  the  administration.  Further  than  this,  in  his  consciousness  of  the 
good  military  judgment  which  he  had  demonstrated  during  Cam- 
eron's incumbency  of  the  War  Office,  and  his  intolerance  of  Lincoln's 
unmethodicalness,  he  conceived  of  a  Directory,  in  which  the  Depart- 
ment Heads  should  regularly  confer  with  President  and  Generals 
as  the  corrective  for  the  mistakes  which  the  Executive  was  making. 
The  majority  of  the  government  party  in  the  Senate  shared  the  Sec- 
retary's views ;  among  others,  Secretary  Fessenden,  chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  Finance,  was  in  substantial  accord  with  him ;  and  the 
situation  was  favorable  to  the  dissemination  of  Mr.  Chase's  criticism 
of  Executive  operations. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  conservative  opinion  in  the  party  was  repre- 
sented by  the  President  himself,  and  the  Secretary  of  State;  which 
concurrence  was  highly  favorable  to  the  preconceived  notion,  that 
while  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  titular  President,  Mr.  Seward  would  be 
the  actual  one.  Accordingly  as  the  administration  became  unpopular, 
the  Secretary  of  State  incurred  much  of  the  blame.  Attendant  upon 
this  was  an  almost  inexplicable  loss  of  the  political  favor  which  Mr. 
Seward  had  enjoyed.  His  popularity  with  the  Senate  was  over;  a 
few  conservative  utterances  during  the  Congressional  session  that 
preceded  Lincoln's  administration  had  cost  him  the  confidence  of 
Senator  Fessenden ;  and  certain  despatches  of  the  summer  of  1862, 
had  been  especially  offensive  to  Sumner,  who  as  chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  Foreign  Relations  stood  in  the  same  official  relation  to 
him  as  Fessenden  to  Chase.  Even  the  support  of  his  own  State  was 
uncertain. 

The  defeat  of  General  Burnside  at  Fredericksburg  in  December, 
186,2,  served  the  Senate  as  a  signal  for  action ;  and  all  of  the  Repub- 
lican members,  with  the  exception  of  one  of  the  Senators  from  New 
York,  joined  in  a  demand  for  the  removal  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 
At  caucuses  held  on  successive  days,  December  16  and  17,  the  dis- 


LINCOLN.  181 

integrated  condition  of  the  Cabinet  council  was  discussed,  resolutions 
were  passed  recommending  a  partial  reconstruction  of  the  Cabinet, 
and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  present  to  the  President  the 
demand  of  the  parties  assembled  for  changes  both  in  the  conduct  and 
the  personnel  of  the  Cabinet.  There  was  even  a  suggestion  that 
the  demand  be  made  official  by  introducing  a  resolution  in  the  open 
Senate.  The  committee  included  Senators  Collamer,  Wade,  Grimes, 
Trumbull,  Sumner,  Harris,  Pomeroy,  and  Howard.  Mr.  Collamer 
had  himself  been  a  Cabinet  officer;  and  his  assertion  in  caucus  that 
the  theory  and  practice  of  the  Government  demanded  a  Cabinet  coun- 
cil and  that  it  was  unsafe  and  wrong  to  leave  each  member  to  his 
own  Department,  probably  indicates  that  President  Taylor,  ineffective 
as  his  Cabinet  was,  had  kept  up  the  forms  of  general  consultation. 
Collamer's  statement  was  incorporated  in  a  paper  which  he  prepared 
to  submit  to  the  President.  Another  clause  was  to  the  effect  that  the 
Cabinet  should  be  exclusively  composed  of  statesmen  who  were  the 
cordial,  resolute,  and  unwavering  supporters  of  the  vigorous  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war,  and  was  plainly  directed  against  Secretary  Seward. 
President  Lincoln  accomplished  one  of  his  master  strokes  in  his 
treatment  of  this  demand  from  the  Senate.  After  a  preliminary 
hearing  on  December  18,  the  spirit  of  which  was  on*  the  whole 
derogatory  to  the  attitude  of  the  Senators,  he  brought  on  the  I9th, 
Committee  and  Cabinet  face  to  face.  Seward,  who  had  tendered 
his  resignation  upon  information  from  Senator  King  of  New  York, 
was  absent.  The  first  result  of  the  interchange  of  charges  and 
answers  that  ensued,  was  a  backing  down  on  the  part  of  Chase,  who 
maintained  that  questions  of  importance  had  generally  been  con- 
sidered in  the  Cabinet,  though,  perhaps,  not  so  fully  as  might  have 
been  desired,  arid  that  there  had  been  no  want  of  unity  but  a  general 
acquiescence  on  public  measures.  On  the  2oth,  Chase  followed 
Seward  with  a  resignation.  He  had  had  an  interview  with  the 
Secretary  of  State ;  but  his  reasons  for  resigning,  as  he  expressed  them 
to  one  of  his  Senatorial  friends,  were  the  fear  that  he  might  be 
accused  of  manoeuvering  to  get  Mr.  Seward  out,  if  he  himself 
remained,  since  the  two  had  been  appointed  as  representing  different 
wings  of  the  party,  and  doubt  as  to  whether  he  could  manage  .the 


182  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Treasury  Department,  which  was  difficult  at  best,  if  he  had  the  dis- 
affection of  Seward's  friends  to  contend  with.11  Upon  receipt  of  Mr. 
Chase's  resignation,  Mr.  Lincoln  announced  that  he  should  accept 
neither ;  both  Secretaries  resumed  their  posts ;  and  the  only  result  of 
this  extraordinary  episode,  so  far  as  Cabinet  affairs  were  concerned, 
was  the  fuller  subjection  of  both  Seward  and  Chase  to  the  President's 
control. 

The  biographers  who  have  written  up  this  episode  naturally 
emphasize  its  bearing  upon  the  relations  between  the  two  rival 
Secretaries  and  the  President,  though  they  do  not  agree  in  their 
construction  of  it.  Thus,  Nicolay  and  Hay,  who  are  quite  unfair 
to  the  radical  elements  in  the  Government,  represent  the  Senatorial 
interference  merely  as  an  attack  upon  the  Secretary  of  State 
fomented  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  which  covered  the  latter 
with  confusion,  and  attested  President  Lincoln's  power  to  reduce 
contending  factions  to  his  control.15  Professor  Albert  Bushnell  Hart, 
quoting  the  Memoirs  of  Major  Wright  Bannister,  represents  that  the 
two  Secretaries,  in  this  particular  transaction,  were  acting  together." 
For  our  purpose  the  great  significance  of  the  affair  lies  in  its  being 
a  well  considered  attempt  by  the  whole  Government  party  in  the  Sen- 
ate to  act  as  a  superior  council,  in  dictating  the  procedure  as  well  as 
the  personnel  of  the  Cabinet.  Indeed,  Mr.  Fessenden,  when  called 
upon  to  state  his  complaints  before  the  President,  prefaced  his 
charges  of  lack  of  general  consultations  and  undue  influence  from  a 
single  Department,  with  saying  that  the  Senate,  "  as  Constitutional 
advisers  of  the  President  "  had  deemed  the  emergency  serious  enough 
to  offer  their  friendly  counsel. 

The  restiveness  and  uncertain  loyalty  of  Secretary  Chase  as  an 
Executive  subordinate  worked  the  most  serious  friction  that  arose 
within  the  administration.  Perfect  concord  between  Secretary  and 
President  was  prevented,  in  the  first  place,  by  their  different  views 
of  the  administration  problem ;  they  had  different  conceptions  also 
of  the  nature  of  the  Executive,  or  rather  of  the  way  it  ought  to 

14  Fessenden,  William  P.  Fessenden,  I,  231-253. 

15  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  VI,  264-271. 

16  Hart,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  302. 


LINCOLN.  183 

operate  in  a  great  war ;  and  still  further,  their  personal  incongruities  - 
were  too  great  to  be  well  harmonized. 

The  chief  subject  that  brought  Chase  into  actual  conflict  with  his 
superior  was  that  of  presidential  appointments  within  the  Treasury 
Department.  The  Secretary  took  the  stand  that,  for  the  sake  of 
efficient  service,  his  recommendations  as  head  of  the  Department, 
must  prevail  over  those  of  the  representatives  of  the  localities  inter- 
ested ;  while  the  President  was  inclined  to  consider  local  preferences, 
as  a  means  of  conciliating  feeling  towards  the  Government.  On  this 
subject  a  series  of  differences  arose,  in  which  Chase  resorted  to  the 
peevish  expedient  of  resigning  his  office,  as  a  means  of  carrying  his 
point.  The  first  controversy,  which  occurred  in  March,  1863,  con- 
cerned an  internal  revenue  collectorship  in  Connecticut,  about  which 
the  Secretary  came  into  collision  with  one  of  the  Senators  from 
that  State ;  the  difficulty  was  quieted  by  a  personal  conference 
arranged  by  the  President.  The  second,  which  followed  three 
months  later,  related  to  a  collectorship  of  customs  on  Puget  Sound ; 
the  collector  had  been  appointed  as  a  favor  to  Chase,  but  had  proven 
his  incompetency,  whereat  the  President,  yielding  to  pressure 
brought  to  bear  by  Congressmen  from  the  Pacific  coast,  removed 
the  officer,  but  conceded  that  the  Secretary  should  name  a  successor. 
A  third  difficulty  of  the  same  sort  grew  out  of  a  demand  for  the 
removal  of  the  collector  of  customs,  at  New  York,  June,  1864; 
though  Lincoln  approved  of  the  existing  incumbent  highly  enough 
to  propose  his  transfer  to  the  Mission  to  Portugal,  he  was  inclined 
to  gratify  the  local  demand  for  the  removal,  but  after  conference 
with  Chase,  surrendered  to  his  wishes  and  declined  to  make  the 
change.  Only  a  few  days  later  occurred  the  final  difficulty,  which 
concerned  the  assistant  treasurership  at  New  York;  the  incumbent 
of  that  office  desiring  to  resign,  Chase  urged  for  his  successor  a 
candidate  to  whom  one  of  the  New  York  Senators  objected ;  this 
affair  was  settled  by  prevailing  upon  the  existing  Assistant  Treas- 
urer to  continue  in  office.  On  the  first  of  these  occasions,  Chase 
had  written  a  resignation,  but  refrained  from  sending  it;  on  the 
second  he  actually  resigned,  and  required  the  most  considerate  per- 
suasion from  Lincoln  to  remain  at  his  post;  on  the  third  occasion, 


184  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

when  he  fully  carried  his  point,  there  is  some  indication  that  he 
threatened  to  resign;  on  the  fourth  occasion,  he  had  written  a 
resignation  before  the  controversy  was  settled  to  his  satisfaction, 
and  sent  it  after  his  triumph.  This  the  President  accepted,  July  i, 
1864. 

An  additional  factor  in  the  strained  relations  between  Lincoln 
and  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  their  rivalry  for  the  pres- 
idential nomination  of  1864.  While  a  general  purpose  to  further 
his  own  interests  probably  inhered  in  Mr.  Chase's  habit  of  disparag- 
ing the  existing  administration,  and  in  his  practice  of  personally  in- 
gratiating himself  in  military  and  other  quarters,  he  is  not  charged, 
even  by  his  most  severe  critics,  with  dispensing  the  patronage  in  his 
own  behalf.  However,  he  was  indirectly  a  party  to  a  very  great 
offence  against  the  loyalty  to  his  chief  which  custom  required  of 
him,  by  his  share  in  the  publication  of  the  Pomeroy  Circular.  This 
was  a  campaign  document  put  out  in  February,  1864,  which  openly 
disparaged  President  Lincoln  for  his  compromising  disposition,  and 
presented  Secretary  Chase  as  the  one  candidate  who  combined  the 
qualities  which  the  existing  crisis  demanded  of  a  President.  Chase 
partially  exonerated  himself  for  this  act  in  his  behalf,  and  intimated 
a  willingness  to  resign  from  the  Cabinet,  if  President  Lincoln 
desired.  Moreover,  he  publicly  withdrew  from  his  presidential  can- 
didacy in  April,  and  on  June  7,  1864,  Mr.  Lincoln  received  of  the 
Republican  National  Convention  a  nomination  for  a  second  term  of 
office.  An  additional  unpleasantness  had  arisen,  however,  by  the 
President's  renewal  of  General  Frank  P.  Blair's  commission  in  the 
army,  immediately  after  that  gentleman,  as  Representative  from 
Missouri,  had  made  an  attack  upon  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
in  the  House  of  Representatives ;  though  it  was  outwardly  removed 
by  Mr.  Lincoln's  explanation  that  he  had  resolved  to  renew  the 
commission,  before  he  heard  of  the  speech  derogatory  to  Mr.  Chase. 
In  accepting  the  particular  resignation,  which  followed  the  contro- 
versy about  the  assistant-treasurership  at  New  York,  Lincoln 
doubtless  felt  that  the  constant  irritation  had  begun  to  impair 
Chase's  efficiency;  and  that  further  temporizing  would  mean  a 
greater  surrender  than  the  Chief  Executive  ought  to  make.  Three 


LINCOLN.  185 

months  later,  he  nominated  Chase  to  be  Chief- Justice  of  the  United 
States,  and  received  the  oath  of  office  from  him  at  his  second 
inauguration.  The  Treasury  portfolio  was  promptly  offered  to 
Governor  David  Tod  of  Ohio,  who  declined  it;  whereupon  a  literal 
impressment  of  a  Cabinet  officer  occurred  in  the  summary  appoint- 
ment of  Senator  William  P.  Fessenden  of  Maine.17 

There  is  no  stronger  proof  of  Lincoln's  power  as  a  master  of  men 
than  the  loyal  and  efficient  service  which  he  commanded  of  Stanton 
as  his  War  Minister;  for  it  was  this  same  Secretary  that  showed 
himself  in  the  hands  of  Lincoln's  successor,  the  most  intractable 
of  Cabinet  officers.  In  spite  of  his  previous  disparagement  of 
Lincoln,  Stanton  came  to  feel  for  him,  as  the  two  shared  the  anxieties 
of  the  war,  the  most  loyal  appreciation.  That  Lincoln  promptly 
discovered  how  to  get  along  with  Stanton's  peculiar  disposition  is 
not  so  strange.  When  the  Secretary  of  War  showed  resistance  to 
authority,  it  proceeded  not  so  much  from  difference  of  views  and 
temperament,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
but  from  hastiness  of  temper,  and  stubbornness.  Between  Lincoln 
and  Stanton,  there  were  many  cases  of  disagreement;  which  gen- 
erally related  to  such  questions  as  military  pardons,  privileges  within 
the  army  lines,  etc.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  Secretary's  severity 
was  required  to  prevent  the  President's  clemency  from  destroying 
discipline.  It  was  an  exasperating  practice  of  Stanton's  to  refuse 
to  sign  orders  which  did  not  suit  his  judgment;  and  to  scribble 
in  place  of  his  name  the  assertion  that  perhaps  another  man  would 
sign  the  paper,  but  he  would  resign  first.  With  this  habit,  Lincoln 
seems  to  have  had  three  ways  of  dealing:  viz.,  to  persuade  Stanton 
to  affix  his  signature,  to  yield  to  him,  or  to  let  the  matter  in  question 
proceed  without  written  authority,  and  sustain  the  parties  afterward. 
Perhaps  the  sharpest  dispute  was  one  that  grew  out  of  the  President's 
order  of  September  I,  1864,  relative  to  rebel  prisoners  at  Rock 
Island,  in  which  Stanton,  after  declaring  against  the  execution  of  the 
order,  for  the  third  time,  submitted  to  the  President's  will.18 

The  relative  authority  of   President  and  Cabinet,   is   especially 

"  Fessenden,  William  Pitt  Fessenden,  I,  315-324. 
"Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  V,  142-147. 


186  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

hard  to  measure  during  the  Civil  War,  because  the  functions  of  the 
whole  Government  were  so  greatly  expanded.  In  large  questions  of 
policy,  Lincoln  was  accustomed  to  consult  the  whole  Cabinet,  and 
to  give  abundant  opportunity  for  suggestions.  However,  the  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation  has  become  proverbial  as  the  crowning  instance 
of  a  President's  independence  of  advice.  Lincoln  resolved  upon  this 
measure,  and  drafted  the  instrument,  before  his  official  advisers 
knew  of  it,  save  that  he  had  intimated  his  purpose  to  two  of  the 
Secretaries,  a  few  days  before  he  officially  notified  the  whole  Cabinet. 
However,  he  was  not  strictly  breaking  new  ground,  inasmuch  as  the 
subject  of  emancipation  had  been  discussed  off  and  on  for  a  good 
many  months.  Besides,  the  Proclamation  was  made  the  subject  of 
four  Cabinet  meetings,  July  22  and  23,  September  22,  and  December 
30,  in  the  course  of  which  the  President  agreed  to  postponement  and 
rewrote  the  paper  with  changes,  of  which  one  or  two  were  more  than 
verbal.19  On  the  whole  the  share  of  the  Cabinet  in  this  extraordinary 
exercise  of  the  executive  power  was  a  very  humble  one,  and  there  is 
probably  no  more  marked  case  of  a  President's  unaided  initiative. 

In  his  judgments  of  the  state  of  the  public  pulse,  Lincoln  seems  to 
have  been  especially  independent.  Those  decisions  of  1862,  in  which 
his  failure  to  take  advice  provoked  criticism  in  Congress,  were  of 
this  sort,  the  establishing  of  General  Halleck  at  Washington  to  act 
as  General-in-Chief,  and  the  placing  of  the  army  under  McClellan 
after  his  return  from  the  Peninsula,  being  examples.  Concerning 
the  dismissal  of  Cabinet  officers,  he  would  no  more  brook  the  inter- 
ference of  Secretaries  than  of  Senators ;  and  in  July  1864,  he  admin- 
istered a  sharp  rebuke  to  the  whole  Cabinet,  when  a  demand  was 
brought  by  hand  of  Secretary  Stanton,  for  the  removal  of 
Postmaster-General  Blair,  because  the  latter  officer  had  criticized 
certain  army  officers,  in  his  indignation  at  the  burning  of  his  house 
and  library  during  the  attack  upon  Washington.20  While  he  seldom, 
if  ever,  decided  a  cardinal  point  against  his  own  judgment,  Lincoln 
was  not  superior  to  yielding  his  opinion,  even  in  large  matters,  when 
he  was  not  satisfied  of  its  wisdom.  Thus,  in  February,  1865,  after 

19Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  VI,  123-130;  158-164;  405-421. 
20  Lincoln's  Complete  Works,  II,  548. 


LINCOLN.  187 

holding  a  conference  with  certain  leaders  of  the  secession  at  Fortrels 
Monroe,  Secretary  Seward  attending,  he  formulated  a  plan  to  indem- 
nify the  States  in  rebellion  for  their  slave  property,  on  condition  of 
their  ceasing  from  resistance  to  the  National  authority.  Upon  the 
unanimous  disapproval  of  the  Cabinet,  the  Message  laying  the  project 
before  Congress  was  withheld,  and  the  plan  abandoned.21 

When  Lincoln  entered  upon  his  second  term  of  office  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  Cabinet  had  been  greatly  changed ;  and,  on  the  whole, 
not  strengthened.  Secretary  Smith,  never  a  conspicuous  figure, 
retired  from  the  Interior  Department  in  December,  1862,  having 
been  appointed  to  a  District  Judgeship ;  and,  after  some  delay,  was 
succeeded  by  John  P.  Usher,  who  had  been  Assistant-Secretary  of 
the  Department,  and,  like  his  predecessor,  represented  the  State  of 
Indiana.  In  November,  1863,  Attorney-General  Bates  resigned, 
because  as  he  stated  it,  he  was  "  weary  with  the  general  revolutionary 
spirit,  and  tried  with  the  continuous  innovations  upon  law  and 
precedent  necessary  to  the  war  administration."  The  President, 
desiring  to  preserve  the  original  geographical  distribution,  tried  to 
find  a  successor  to  Bates  in  Missouri,  but,  failing  of  this,  turned  to 
Kentucky,  and  made  a  tender  to<  Joseph  Holt,  who  had  served  in 
Buchanan's  administration,  both  as  Postmaster-General  and  Secre- 
tary of  War.  Holt,  however,  declined ;  and  Lincoln  had  to  satisfy 
himself  with  James  Speed,  a  lawyer  without  National  reputation. 

The  retirement  of  Postmaster-General  Blair  was  an  incident  of 
the  presidential  election  of  1864,  and  reveals  Lincoln  in  the  char- 
acter of  a  politician.  Blair  had  made  an  efficient  Postmaster- 
General  ;  but  had  been  an  administration  thorn  from  the  outset,  both 
for  his  personal  enmities  and  his  constituency.  Moreover,  as  fac- 
tional differences  waxed  warmer  with  the  discontent  about  the  war, 
Blair  became  the  special  target  of  the  Radicals.  The  Radical 
Republicans  nominated  General  John  C.  Fremont  for  the  Pres- 
idency; while  the  Union  Republicans  nominated  Lincoln,  but  put  a 
resolution  into  their  platform  that  was  aimed  against  the  ultra- 
conservative  element  in  the  Cabinet.  In  September,  1864,  when  the 
issue  of  the  election  seemed  especially  doubtful,  Lincoln  called  for 

21  Lincoln's  Complete  Works,  II,  636. 


i88  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Blair's  resignation,  and  it  was  cheerfully  tendered.22  William  A. 
Dennison  of  Ohio,  was  immediately  appointed  Postmaster-General. 
In  January,  1865,  Secretary  Fessenden  was  reelected  to  the  Senate, 
which  he  preferred  to  the  Treasury.  The  candidates  recommended 
to  the  President  for  the  vacant  portfolio  were  Governor  E.  D. 
Morgan  of  New  York,  Governor  John  A.  Andrew  of  Massachusetts, 
Vice-President  Hannibal  Hamlin  of  Maine,  and  Hugh  McCulloch 
of  Indiana,  Comptroller  of  the  Currency.  Lincoln  first  nominated 
Governor  Morgan,  who  was  supported  by  the  conservative  Republi- 
cans of  New  York;  upon  Morgan's  refusal  to  accept,  he  appointed 
Hugh  McCulloch  who  was  the  choice  of  Jay  Cooke  and  the  Chicago 
bankers.  It  was  a  part  of  the  understanding  that  Secretary  Usher 
would  retire  from  the  Interior  Department  to  avoid  the  double, 
representation  of  the  State  of  Indiana;  and  James  Harlan,  Senator 
from  Iowa,  was  selected  to  succeed  him,  though  this  change  had  not 
been  accomplished  at  the  President's  death.  Thus  the  Cabinet  which 
Lincoln  left  to  his  successor  was  composed  of  Seward,  McCulloch, 
Stanton,  Speed,  Welles,  Dennison,  and  Usher,  of  whom  Seward 
and  Welles  were  the  only  survivors  of  the  original  group. 

22  The  attempt  of  Lincoln's  friends  to  deprive  the  incident  of  its  political 
meaning  is  hard  to  harmonize  with  the  order  of  events.  August  23,  Lincoln 
wrote  in  a  memorandum  that  it  seemed  probable  that  he  would  not  be  re- 
elected.  Fremont's  withdrawal  from  his  candidacy  was  already  under 
discussion.  September  I,  and  again  on  the  3d,  Lincoln  summoned  Blair  to 
return  to  Washington  immediately.  September  21,  Fremont  actually  with- 
drew; and  on  the  23d,  Lincoln  called  in  writing  for  Blair's  resignation, 
accompanying  the  request  with  a  letter  of  commendation  for  his  services. 


PRESIDENT. 
ANDREW  JOHNSON,  Tennessee. 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 

LAFAYETTE  S.  FOSTER,  Connecticut. 
BENJAMIN  F.  WADE,  Ohio. 


April  15,  1865,  to  March  4,  1869. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
WILLIAM   H.   SEWARD,   of  New  York;   continued  from  Lincoln's  Adminis- 
tration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 
HUGH   McCuLLOCH,  of  Indiana;   continued   from  Lincoln's  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  Lincoln's  Adminis- 
tration. 

ULYSSES  S.  GRANT,  (General  of  the  Army),  ad  interim,  August  12,  1867. 

EDWIN   M.   STANTON/  of   Pennsylvania;   reinstated  January   13,   1868. 

LORENZO  THOMAS  (Adjutant-General,  U.  S.  A.),  ad  interim,  February  21, 
1868. 

JOHN  M.  SCHOFIELD,  of  Illinois,  May  28,  1868. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

JAMES  SPEED,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  Lincoln's  Administration. 
J.   HUBLEY  ASHTON,  of  Pennsylvania    (Assistant  Attorney-General),  acting, 

July  17,  1866. 

HENRY  STANBERY,  of  Ohio,  July  23,  1866. 
ORVILLE  H.  BROWNING,  of  Illinois   (Secretary  of  the  Interior),  ad  interim, 

March   13,   1868. 
WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS,  of  New  York,  July  15,  1868. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

WILLIAM  DENNISON,  of  Ohio;  continued  from  Lincoln's  Administration. 
ALEXANDER  W.  RANDALL,  of  Wisconsin  (First  Assistant  Postmaster-General), 
ad  interim,  July  17,  1866. 

1  Mr.  Stanton  did  not  cease  to  perform  the  duties  of  Secretary  of  War  until 
their  assumption  by  Major-General  Schofield. 

189 


190  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 
GIDEON  WELLES,  of  Connecticut;   continued  from  Lincoln's  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

JOHN  P.  USHER,  of  Indiana;  continued  from  Lincoln's  Administration. 
JAMES  HARLAN,  of  Iowa,  May  15,  1865. 

ORVILLE  H.  BROWNING,  of  Illinois,  July  27,  1866,  to  take  effect  September  I, 
1866. 


JOHNSON. 

or  more  than  a  year,  Johnson  preserved  Lincoln's  Cabinet  intact, 
save  that  Secretary  Usher  resigned  from  the  Interior  Department 
as  previously  arranged.  The  new  President  went  so  far  as  to 
appoint  to  the  vacancy  James  Harlan  of  Iowa,  the  man  of  his  pre- 
decessor's selection,  and  three  of  Lincoln's  earlier  appointees,  Seward, 
McCulloch,  and  Welles,  he  retained  to  the  end  of  his  administration. 
The  explanation  of  this  course,  which  is  in  bold  contrast  with  that 
of  Tyler  in  1841,  of  Fillmore  in  1850,  and  of  Arthur  in  1881,  is,  as 
Johnson's  sympathizers  asserted,  that  he  sought  to  identify  his  policy 
of  Reconstruction  with  the  plan  which  was  maturing  in  the  minds 
of  Lincoln  and  his  advisers,  and  had  been  presented  by  the  Secretary 
of  War  at  Lincoln's  last  Cabinet  meeting,  April  14,  i865.2  Further- 
more in  retaining  his  predecessor's  Cabinet,  Johnson  resisted  a  pres- 
sure that  is  amazing  both  for  its  persistence  and  the  respectability  of 
its  sources,  and  which  can  only  be  explained  by  the  disintegration  in 
the  Republican  party  that  followed  the  close  of  the  War  and  the 
death  of  Lincoln.  This  agitation  for  a  change  of  Cabinet  began 
three  days  after  Johnson's  accession,3  and  continued  until  the  presi- 
dential nominations  of  1868  made  the  existing  administration  a 
matter  of  minor  interest. 

Among  the  President's  advisers,  the  most  notable  were  Thomas 
Ewing,  a  former  member  of  two  Whig  Cabinets,  and  Frank  P. 
Blair,  Sr.,  administration  editor  to  Jackson  and  Van  Buren.  These 
two  men,  now  advanced  in  years,  loom  up  among  Johnson's  corres- 
pondents as  preservers  of  party  traditions  by  which  the  accidental 
President,  in  his  ill-defined  political  position,  might  be  expected  to 

2  Gideon  Welles,  Lincoln  and  Johnson  in  the  Galaxy,  vol.  13,  pp.  521-532; 
663-674. 

3  Johnson  MSS.,  J.  L.  Dawson  to  Johnson,  April  17,  1865;  New  York  State 
Committee  of  the  War  Democracy  to  Johnson,  April  21,  1865. 

191 


192  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

profit.  Duff  Green  also  reappeared  on  the  scene ;  though  his  timely 
suggestions  as  to  how  the  new  President  might  succeed  himself  in 
1869  did  not  contemplate  a  change  of  Cabinet.4 

Ewing  and  Blair  alike  approved  of  Stanton's  removal,  Ewing's 
name  appearing  at  the  head  of  a  petition  for  that  purpose,  that  was 
presented  between  the  first  and  second  sessions  of  Congress.5  More- 
over, General  Frank  P.  Blair,  son  of  the  elder  Blair,  pushed  hard  for 
Stanton's  place,6  while  the  other  son,  Montgomery  Blair,  who  had 
acquiesced  in  his  own  dismissal  from  the  Postmaster-Generalship,  to 
further  Lincoln's  reelection,  now  came  forward  to  even  up  scores 
by  decrying  both  Stanton  and  Seward/  and  was  furthermore  recom- 
mended by  his  friends  for  reinstatement.8  If  pressure  is  ever  suf- 
ficient cause  for  a  Cabinet  removal,  Johnson  would  have  been  justi- 
fied in  dismissing  Stanton  at  any  moment  from  his  accession  to  the 
passage  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act.  The  personal  unpopularity 
of  the  Secretary  of  War  was  voiced  at  the  outset  both  from  military 
and  other  quarters ;  and  in  due  time  were  added  charges  of  consort- 
ing with  the  President's  enemies. 

There  might  also  have  been  reason  for  dispensing  with  Seward; 
since  it  was  charged  at  first  that  he  and  Weed  were  manipulating 
New  York  against  the  President,  and  later  that  he  was  an  "  effete 
body  "  and  a  "  dead  weight,"  the  decline  of  whose  political  following 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  lend  prestige  to  the  administration." 

The  actual  changes  in  the  Cabinet  began  in  July,  1866,  when 
Attorney-General  Speed,  Postmaster-General  Dennison,  and  Secre- 
tary Harlan,  in  terms  of  doubtful  cordiality,  resigned  their  offices, 
being  disaffected  towards  the  President's  Reconstruction  policy.  Of 
these  resignations,  Seward  wrote :  "  The  Cabinet,  which  has  been 

*  Johnson  MSS.,  Duff  Green  to  Johnson,  June  25,  1865. 

5  Johnson  MSS.,  September  16,  1866. 

6  Johnson  MSS.,  Jas.  S.  Rollins  of  Missouri  to  Johnson,  June  7,  1865;  David 
Dudley  Field  to  Johnson,  June  8,  1865. 

7  Johnson  MSS.,  Montgomery  Blair  to  Johnson,  June  15,  1865. 

8  Johnson  MSS.,  N.  D.  Sherry,  Secretary  of  National  Union  Committee  to 
Johnson,  May  4,  1865. 

8  Johnson  MSS.,  Samuel  Barlow  to  Montgomery  Blair,  June,  1865;  Mont- 
gomery Blair  to  Johnson,  April  n  and  August  9,  1866. 


JOHNSON.  193 

held  so  long  together  is  at  last  struck,  and  begins  to  go  apart.  T! 
regret  it.  Cabinets  seldom  separate  for  the  good  of  the  country,  if 
they  are  made  up  of  loyal  men  as  this  one  has  been.  I  part  with 
Mr.  Dennison  and  Mr.  Speed  with  regret.  The  times  require  great 
firmness  and  coolness  on  the  part  of  the  Executive.  It  does  not 
surprise,  although  it  pains  me,  that  all  of  my  associates  have  not 
been  able  to  see  it  their  duty,  as  I  see  it  mine,  to  sustain  him." 
Secretary  Harlan  promptly  returned  to  the  Senate  where  he  had 
resigned  his  seat  the  year  before  to  accept  the  Interior  Department ; 
and  in  the  impeachment  trial,  he  voted  for  the  President's  conviction. 

The  new  appointments  were  Henry  Stanbery  of  Ohio,  Attorney- 
General;  Alexander  W.  Randall  of  Wisconsin,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral; and  Orville  H.  Browning  of  Illinois,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior.  Stanbery  and  Browning,  both  of  Whig  antecedents,  were 
warmly  recommended  by  Ewing  for  ability  and  political  character; 
while  Randall's  appointment  was  a  promotion  from  the  position  of 
First  Assistant  in  the  Department.  All  of  these  proved  loyal  sup- 
porters of  the  President.  Indeed  the  Attorney-General's  opinions 
reflected  the  President's  point  of  view  so  strongly  that  Congress  by 
the  supplementary  Reconstruction  Act  of  July  19,  1867,  sought  to 
limit  their  effect  by  forbidding  the  commanders  of  the  military 
districts  into  which  the  States  lately  in  revolt  had  been  organized  to 
be  bound  by  "  any  opinion  of  any  civil  officer  of  the  United  States." 
Mr.  Stanbery  resigned  his  office  to  become  one  of  the  President's 
counsel  in  the  impeachment  trial ;  and  when  renominated,  failed  of 
confirmation. 

According  to  the  normal  conception  of  a  Cabinet  officer's  relation 
to  the  President,  Stanton  should  have  resigned,  at  least  as  early 
as  the  end  of  the  Congressional  session  i865-'66;  inasmuch  as  his 
disaffection  with  the  administration  policy  was  determined,  according 
to  his  biographer,  in  the  preceding  September.  The  Secretary  of 
War  and  his  friends,  however,  seized  upon  the  idea  of  the  Cabinet 
as  a  check  or  safeguard  against  a  wayward  President,  making  a 
greatly  aggravated  case  of  the  relation  which  the  Harrison  Cabinet 
attempted  to  establish  with  Tyler.  Accordingly,  he  stuck  to  his 

13 


194  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

post  in  behalf  of  the  general  welfare.10  That  Johnson  did  not  dismiss 
him  between  the  adjournment  of  Congress  in  1866  and  the  passage 
of  the  Tenure-of- Office  Act  is  an  enigma ;  though  it  is  entirely  sup- 
posable  that  the  President  did  not  appreciate  the  extent  of  the  antag- 
onism; he  certainly  was  not  aware  of  Stanton's  participation  in  the 
framing  of  certain  radical  legislation.11  Moreover,  we  find  no  act  of 
real  and  open  defiance  before  June  18  and  19,  1867,  when  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  dissenting  from  the  rest  of  the  Cabinet,  entered  written 
protests  against  the  opinions  of  the  Attorney-General  on  the  Recon- 
struction Acts. 

The  Tenure-of-Office  Act  of  March  2,  1867  is  of  signal  im- 
portance, because  it  was  potential  of  a  radical  change  in  the  nature 
of  the  Cabinet;  yet  it  loses  very  much  of  its  significance,  for  .the 
reason  that  it  was  a  spasmodic  and  avowedly  temporary  measure. 
Hereby,  the  power  to  remove  the  Heads  of  Departments  was  so 
limited  by  the  Senatorial  concurrence  that  the  means  by  which  the 
President  had  heretofore  kept  his  privy  council  in  subordination  was 
practically  vitiated.  The  main  provisions  of  the  act  were  that  the 
President  might  suspend  an  officer  in  the  recess  of  Congress ;  that 
he  should  report  each  suspension  to  the  Senate,  together  with  his 
reasons  for  making  it,  within  twenty  days  after  the  subsequent 
assembling:  that  if  the  Senate  should  concur,  the  President  might 
then  remove  the  officer  and  appoint  another  in  the  usual  way;  that 
if  the  Senate  did  not  concur,  the  suspended  officer  should  resume  his 
duties." 

That  this  poor  substitute  for  the  time-honored  power  of  removal 
should  extend  to  the  Cabinet,  was  a  more  drastic  proposition  than 
Congress  was  prepared  to  entertain,  when  the  act  first  came  before 
it,  early  in  the  session  of  i866-'67.  Though  bent  upon  taking  the 
patronage  out  of  the  President's  hands,  it  was  still  bound  by  the 
idea  of  a  special  relation  between  the  Chief  Executive  and  his  con- 
fidential advisers,  which  ought  not  to  be  interfered  with.  As  the 

10Gorham,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  n,  300. 
u  Dewitt,  Impeachment  of  Andrew  Johnson,  267. 

^Salmon,  The  Appointing  Power  of  the  President,  91-93;  Fish,  The  Civil 
Service  and  the  Patronage,  193-202. 


JOHNSON.  195 

bill  left  the  Senate,  it  read,  "  That  every  person  (excepting  the 
Secretaries  of  State,  of  the  Treasury,  of  War,  of  the  Navy,  and  of 
the  Interior,  the  Postmaster-General,  and  the  Attorney-General) 
holding  any  civil  office  to  which  he  has  been  appointed  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  and  every  person  who  shall 
hereafter  be  appointed  to  any  such  office,  and  shall  become  duly 
qualified  to  act  therein,  is,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  hold  such  office 
until  a  successor  shall  have  been  in  like  manner  appointed  and  duly 
qualified,  except  as  herein  otherwise  provided."  During  the  debate 
in  the  Senate,  a  motion  to  strike  out  the  exception  had  been  twice 
offered  and  twice  defeated,  the  first  time  without  a  division,  and 
the  second  by  a  vote  of  23  to  13.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the 
author  of  this  motion  was  Timothy  O.  Howe,  of  Wisconsin,  inas- 
much as  that  gentleman  afterwards  served  as  Postmaster-General 
under  President  Arthur.  However,  when  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives took  up  the  bill,  two  months  of  the  session  had  passed,  and 
the  hostility  to  the  President  had  become  aggravated.  The  great 
Military  Reconstruction  Act  was  pending,  and  the  Secretary  of 
War  was  distinctly  assuming  the  role  of  agent  and  guardian  of  the 
Congressional  policy.  The  Tenure-of-Office  Act  was  accordingly 
amended  by  striking  out  the  Cabinet  exemption,  though  the  motion 
was  lost  on  the  first  trial,  and  on  reconsideration,  carried  by  a  bare 
majority  of  63  to  67."  The  Senate  at  first  adhered  to  its  original 
stand,  and  refused  to  concur  in  the  amendment,  by  a  vote  of  28  to  17. 
It  is  interesting  to  discover  at  this  point  John  Sherman,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  under  Hayes,  and  a  prominent  aspirant  for  the  Presi- 
dency in  1880,  as  the  principal  champion  of  the  President's  personal 
right  to  a  choice  of  his  Cabinet.  Apropos  of  the  amendment,  Sher- 
man said :  "  It  is  a  question  with  me,  not  of  constitutional  law,  but  a 

question  of  propriety I  would  as  soon  think  of  imposing  upon 

the  President  a  private  secretary  with  whom  he  had  no  kindly  rela- 
tions, personal  and  political,  as  to  impose  upon  him  a  Cabinet  Minister 

with  whom  his  relations  were  not  kind Any  gentleman  fit  to  be 

a  Cabinet  Minister,  who  receives  an  intimation  from  his  chief  that 
his  longer  continuance  in  that  office  is  unpleasant  to  him,  would 

13  Congressional  Globe,  39th  Congress,  2cl  session,  937,  943-4,  970. 


196  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

necessarily  resign.  If  he  did  not  resign  it  would  show  he  was 
unfit  to  be  there."  The  bill  was  referred  to  a  joint  committee;  the 
Senate  was  represented  by  Sherman,  Charles  R.  Buckalew  of  Penn- 
sylvania, a  supporter  of  the  President,  and  George  H.  Williams  of 
Oregon,  who  was  afterwards  Attorney-General  under  Grant;  while 
Robert  Schenk  of  Ohio,  Thomas  Williams  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
James  F.  Wilson  of  Iowa,  represented  the  Lower  House.  This 
committee  inserted  in  the  bill,  in  the  place  of  the  Cabinet  ex- 
emption, a  proviso  to  the  effect  "  that  the  Secretaries  of  State,  of 
the  Treasury,  of  War,  of  the  Navy,  and  of  the  Interior,  the 
Postmaster-General,  and  the  Attorney-General  shall  hold  their  offices 
respectively  for  and  during  the  term  of  the  President  by  whom 
they  may  have  been  appointed  and  for  one  month  thereafter,  sub- 
ject to  removal  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate." 
The  application  of  this  to  the  existing  Secretary  of  War  was  by 
no  means  clear.  This  officer  was  the  appointee  of  President  Lincoln, 
his  commission  dating  from  January  15,  1862.  The  President's 
Constitutional  term  of  four  years,  within  which  this  appointment 
had  been  made,  terminated  March  4,  1865 ;  but  it  had  been  renewed 
by  reelection.  Then  Lincoln  had  died  in  office;  and  the  remnant 
of  the  second  period  of  four  years  had  fallen  to  Johnson.  Did 
the  expression  "  term  of  the  President,"  when  applied  to  the  Lincoln 
appointees,  mean  the  Constitutional  term  within  which  the  appoint- 
ment occurred  ?  And  did  Johnson's  retention  of  Stanton  constitute  a 
reappointment  ?  Or  had  the  law  no  application  to  the  Secretary  of 
War? 

The  conferees  for  the  House  of  Representatives  reported  that  they 
had  carried  their  point.  Of  the  Senators,  only  Sherman  and  Wil- 
liams agreed  to  the  report,  Williams  on  the  ground  that  Cabinet 
removals  would  be  precluded  by  the  resignation  of  such  officers 
upon  the  President's  request,  and  Sherman  for  the  additional  reason 
that  the  provision  did  not  hamper  the  power  of  a  President  to  dis- 
miss the  Ministers  selected  by  his  predecessor.  When  Sherman 
voted  for  the  conviction  of  President  Johnson,  he  took  his  ground 
upon  a  different  class  of  Cabinet  regulations  to  be  noticed  in  due 
order.  His  interpretation  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act  appears  to  have 


JOHNSON.  197 

been  decisive  in  securing  its  adoption  in  amended  form  by  the  Sen- 
ate; though  that  body  acted  with  great  inadvertency,  if  not  insin- 
cerity. 

The  President  now  determined  to  make  a  test  case,  and  have 
the  Tenure-of-Office  Act  pronounced  upon  by  the  Supreme  Court. 
His  declaration  of  this  purpose  to  the  Senate  in  his  special  message 
of  February  22,  1868,  is  sufficiently  borne  out  both  by  the  develop- 
ments in  the  trial  proceedings,  and  by  private  correspondence." 
August  5,  1867,  Congress  not  being  in  session,  the  President 
wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War  that  his  resignation  would  be  ac- 
cepted; to  which  the  latter  promptly  replied  that  public  consid- 
erations of  a  high  character  constrained  him  not  to  resign  before 
the  next  meeting  of  Congress.  On  the  I2th,  the  President  notified 
the  Secretary  .that  he  was  suspended  from  office,  basing  the  action 
upon  the  "  power  and  authority  "  vested  in  himself  "  as  President, 
by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States."  At  the  same 
time,  he  designated  General  Grant  to  act  as  Secretary  of  War 
ad  interim.  It  appears,  moreover,  that  if  Grant  had  consented, 
the  President  would  have  issued  to  him  a  vacation  commission, 
thereby  removing  Stanton,  in  direct  challenge  to  the  Tenure- 
of-Office  Act.  December  12,  a  few  days  after  reassembling,  the 
Senate  was  notified  of  Stanton's  suspension,  with  causes,  and  after 
taking  a  month  to  deliberate,  resolved  January  13,  by  a  vote  of  35 
to  6,  thirteen  Senators  not  voting,  not  to  sustain  the  President.  On 
the  following  day  General  Grant  quitted  the  War  Office,  and  Secre- 
tary Stanton  resumed  possession.  Meanwhile  Thomas  Ewing,  bent 
upon  extricating  Johnson  before  it  was  too  late,  had  been  urging  the 
nomination  of  J.  D.  Cox  of  Ohio,  in  the  belief  that  the  Senate  would 
promptly  confirm  it,  and  thereby  avoid  a  direct  vote  upon  Stanton. 
Indeed  it  seems  to  have  been  due  to  Ewing's  advice  that  the  suspen- 
sion had  been  reported  within  the  time  stipulated  by  the  Tenure-of- 
Office  Act,  thus  keeping  the  affair  within  the  letter  of  the  law.  The 
President,  having  failed  of  the  assistance  of  General  Grant,  sought 
that  of  General  Sherman,  making  to  him,  on  January  25,  and  again  on 

14  Impeachment  of  Andrew  Johnson,  I,  680;  Johnson  MSS.,  Johnson  to 
Grant,  January  31,  1868;  Jerome  B.  Stillson  to  Benjamin  R.  Curtis,  April  4, 
1868. 


198  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

the  3Oth,  a  tender  of  the  War  Department  ad  interim™  But  Sherman 
would  not  enter  into  the  controversy,  and  Ewing,  who  was  his 
father-in-law,  was  not  favorable  to  the  arrangement.  Moreover, 
the  latter  now  urged  the  President  not  to  remove  Stanton.  The 
President  next  approached  General  George  H.  Thomas  to  assume 
the  duties  of  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim,  and  failed  in  that  quarter. 
He  then  fell  back  on  Lorenzo  Thomas,  Adjutant-General  of  the 
Army.  February  21,  he  notified  Stanton  of  his  removal  from  the 
office  of  Secretary  of  War,  and  issued  to  Thomas  a  letter  of  authority 
to  act  as  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim,  notifying  the  Senate  of  the 
action  on  the  same  day.  On  the  226.,  that  body  responded  with  the 
resolution :  "  That  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States,  the  President  has  no  power  to  remove  the  Secretary  of  War 
and  to  designate  any  other  officer  to  perform  the  duties  of  that 
office  ad  interim."  The  vote  on  this  occasion  differed  from  that 
which  reinstated  Stanton,  January  13,  in  that  five  Senators  who  voted 
against  the  suspension  on  that  occasion  refrained  from  voting,  as  the 
matter  became  more  serious.  The  resolution  immediately  called 
forth  from  the  President  a  message  stating  at  length  upon  what 
legal  grounds  he  based  his  action,  including  the  following  argument : 
"  Whether  the  act  were  Constitutional  or  not,  it  was  always  my 
opinion  that  it  did  not  secure  him  (Stanton)  from  removal.  I  was, 
however,  aware  that  there  were  doubts  as  to  the  construction  of  the 
law,  and  from  the  first  I  deemed  it  desirable  that  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment,  those  doubts  should  be  settled  and  the  true  con- 
struction of  the  act  fixed  by  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  My  order  of  suspension  in  August  last  was  in- 

15  According  to  Sherman's  testimony  in  the  impeachment  trial,  Impeachment 
I,  483,  it  was  an  ad  interim  appointment  that  the  President  proposed.  But 
Sherman's  Memoirs,  2d  edition,  II,  426,  have  the  following:  "To  effect 
this  removal,  two  modes  were  indicated  by  the  President,  to  wit:  to  simply 
cause  him  (Stanton)  to  quit  the  War  Office  building,  and  notify  the  Treasury 
Department  and  the  army  staff  departments  no  longer  to  respect  him  as 
Secretary  of  War;  or  to  remove  him  and  submit  my  name  to  the  Senate 
for  confirmation."  This  would  imply  that  Johnson  proposed  to  rid  himself 
of  Stanton,  by  nominating  Sherman  in  the  regular  way  to  be  Secretary  of 
War. 


JOHNSON.  199 

mded  to  place  the  case  in  such  a  position  as  would  make  a  resort 
to  a  judicial  decision  both  necessary  and  proper.  My  understanding 
and  wishes,  however,  under  that  order  of  suspension  were  frustrated, 
and  the  late  order  for  Mr.  Stanton's  removal  was  a  further  step 
toward  the  accomplishment  of  that  purpose." ]  The  President 
also  communicated  the  nomination  of  Thomas  Ewing  to  be  Secre- 
tary of  War,  though  the  notice  did  not  actually  reach  the  Senate 
until  February  24,  the  22d  being  Saturday  and  a  holiday.  The 
nomination  was  never  acted  upon.  This  step  was  cited  in  the  im- 
peachment trial,  together  with  the  notification  of  the  removal,  to 
show  that  the  President  had  not  sought  to  debar  the  Senate  from 
exercising  its  concurrent  power  in  the  transaction,  and  such  was 
probably  its  purpose;  since  the  President  could  not  have  expected 
the  Senate  would  confirm  the  appointment,  and  there  is  no  evidence 
that  Ewing  would  have  accepted  it. 

Of  the  articles  of  impeachment  brought  against  the  President  in 
1868,  as  an  outcome,  we  are  concerned  only  with  the  first  three." 
Article  I  related  exclusively  to  the  removal  of  Stanton  as  a  violation 
of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act.  Reviewing  the  transaction  in  detail, 
from  the  suspension  to  the  removal,  it  declared  that  the  President, 
unmindful  of  his  oath  of  office  and  of  the  requirement  of  the  Con- 
stitution that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed,  issued  the  order  of 
removal  with  intent  to  violate  the  act  regulating  the  tenure  of  certain 
civil  offices,  and  was  thereby  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor  in  office. 
Articles  II  and  III  were  concerned  with  the  ad  interim  appointment 
of  Thomas.  Article  II  declared  that,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of 
the  Tenure-of-Office  Act,  and  without  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  that  body  being  at  the  time  in  session,  and  without  authority 
of  law,  the  President  issued  to  Lorenzo  Thomas  a  letter  of  authority 
designating  him  to  act  as  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim,  and  thereby 
committed  a  high  misdemeanor.  Article  III  differed  from  II  only 
in  its  technical  aspect;  it  declared  that  the  President  committed  a 

16  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  VI,  622-627. 

"Although  Article  I  was  not  voted  upon,  it  is  incorporated  with  other 
charges  in  Article  XI,  which  with  II  and  III  forms  the  group  upon  which  the 
Senate  took  action. 


2oo  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

high  misdemeanor  in  office,  in  that  he,  without  authority  of  law, 
during  the  session  of  the  Senate,  appointed  Lorenzo  Thomas  to  be 
Secretary  of  War  ad  interim,  without  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  no  vacancy  having  happened  in  said  office  during  the  recess 
of  the  Senate,  and  no  vacancy  existing  at  the  time  when  said  ap- 
pointment was  made. 

The  charges  against  the  President,  then,  so  far  as  related  to  the 
War  Department,  are  reducible  to  two  (i)  the  removal  in  defiance 
of  the  Tenure-of-office  Act,  and  (2)  the  failure  to  make  a  regular 
appointment.  While  the  real  animus  lay  in  the  combination  of  the 
two  events  into  one  transaction,  whereby  the  concurrent  power  of  the 
Senate  had  been  evaded,  the  judges  were  required  to  distinguish 
between  the  two,  and  to  apply  to  the  case  both  the  Tenure-of-office 
Act  and  the  laws  relating  to  the  ad  interim  Cabinet  service.  The 
President,  on  the  other  hand,  in  his  message  to  the  Senate,  February 
22,  1868,  had  made  the  two  points,  (i)  That  he  desired  to  have 
the  constitutionality  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act  passed  upon  by  the 
courts,  and  (2)  That  an  Act  of  1795,  which  made  it  lawful  for  the 
President  to  designate  any  person  at  his  discretion  to  supply  a 
vacancy,  for  a  period  not  to  exceed  six  months,  was  still  in  force, 
so  far  forth  as  vacancies  caused  by  removal  were  concerned.18  The 
President's  counsel  went  into  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  all  the 
statutes  relating  to  the  ad  interim  service  in  the  Departments.  They 
maintained  both  that  the  Act  of  1795  had  contemplated  vacancies 
arising  from  death,  resignation,  appointment  to  other  office,  expira- 
tion of  term,  and  removal,  and  that  so  far  as  the  last  three  of  these 
contingencies  were  concerned,  it  was  not  repealed  by  an  Act  of  1863. 
The  vacancy  laws  were  discussed  also  by  those  Senators  who  entered 
opinions ;  and  Sherman  and  Howe,  who  could  not  hold  the  President 
guilty  for  the  removal  of  Stanton,  having  denied  at  the  time  when  the 
Tenure-of-Office  Act  was  passed,  that  the  Cabinet  proviso  applied 
to  the  appointees  of  Lincoln,  nevertheless  found  ground  for  con- 
viction in  that  the  designation  of  an  ad  interim  Secretary  was  illegal, 
and  was  an  attempt  to  usurp  the  War  Office.  On  the  other  hand, 
Trumbull,  who  had  made  the  ad  interim  appointment,  and  not  the 

18  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  VI,  622. 


JOHNSON.  201 

loval,  his  ground  for  supporting  the  Senate  resolution  of  censure, 
February  21,  now  justified  the  President,  on  the  ground  that  he  had 
discovered  that  the  Act  of  1795  contemplated  an  area  that  was  not 
covered  by  the  Act  of  1863,  and  was  so  far  still  in  force.  Inasmuch 
as  the  acquittal  was  determined  by  the  separation  of  seven  of  the 
forty-two  Republican  Senators  who  united  with  the  twelve  Demo- 
crats to  make  a  vote  of  nineteen  against  thirty-five,  and  the  adding 
of  a  single  vote  to  the  large  majority  would  have  raised  it  to  the 
two  thirds  necessary  to  convict,  Trumbull's  change  of  ground  was  of 
signal  importance. 

However,  the  interest  which  these  technicalities  have  for  a  study 
of  vacancies  in  the  Departments,  should  not  obscure  the  fact  that 
such  hair-splittings  really  covered  a  luke-warmness  towards  the 
prosecution,  and  that  the  acquittal  turned  on  more  serious  considera- 
tions than  the  defense  reveals.  An  understanding  was  presumably 
reached  between  the  President's  counsel  and  a  group  of  Senators, 
who,  though  opposed  to  Johnson,  dreaded  the  effect  of  conviction 
upon  the  stability  of  the  Government,  that  a  Secretary  of  War,  ac- 
ceptable to  all  factions,  would  be  nominated.  Certain  it  is,  that  on 
April  24,  1868,  the  name  of  General  John  M.  Schofield  of  Illinois 
was  sent  to  the  Senate,  by  arrangement  made  between  President 
Johnson  and  Schofield  two  or  three  days  earlier  through  William 
M.  Evarts.19  Not  till  May  26,  was  the  President's  acquittal  recorded : 
and  on  the  same  day,  Stanton  communicated  to  the  President  his  re- 
linquishment  of  the  War  Office,  on  the  ground  that  the  resolution  of 
the  Senate  censuring  the  removal  and  the  ad  interim  designation  had 
not  been  sustained  by  the  issue  of  the  trial.  Two  days  later,  May  28, 
the  Senate  confirmed  Schofield,  first  resolving  that  the  War  Depart- 
ment had  been  vacated  by  Stanton's  resignation  of  two  days  previous. 

Judge  Stanbery  was  also  nominated  to  resume  the  office  of 
Attorney-General ;  but  the  Senate  refused  to  confirm  him.  The  post 
was  then  tendered  to  Judge  B.  R.  Curtis,  who  had  been  one  of  the 
President's  counsel,  but  was  declined.  It  was  then  urged  upon 
Evarts,  who  was  constrained  by  the  sense  of  duty  to  accept  it. 

On  May  25,  the  day  before  the  articles  of  impeachment  came  to 

19  Schofield,  Forty-Six  Years  in  the  Army,  413,  418. 


2O2  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

a  vote,  Senator  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  who  as  President  pro  tempore 
of  the  Senate  would  assume  the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States,  in  case  Johnson  were  convicted,  began  to  contrive  a  Cabinet, 
and  consulted  General  Grant,  who  was  the  presumptive  candidate 
of  the  Republican  party  for  the  next  presidential  term,  as  to  what 
appointments  would  be  agreeable.  This  kind  of  consultation  was 
perhaps  suitable  to  the  novelty  of  the  situation.  It  would  seem 
to  imply  that  Wade  did  not  trust  his  own  ability  to  compose  the 
distracted  Government  during  the  ten  months  which  were  to  ensue, 
and  like  Johnson,  when  he  undertook  to  test  the  Tenure-of-Office 
Act,  sought  the  cooperation  of  Grant  as  the  most  popular  man  of 
the  hour. 

President  Johnson,  on  the  other  hand,  had  the  grim  satisfaction 
of  recommending  to  Congress,  shortly  after  his  acquittal,  a  new  rule 
for  the  presidential  succession,  in  the  event  of  the  disability  of  both 
President  and  Vice-President.  In  a  message  of  July  18,  1868,  he 
stated  that  recent  events  had  shown  the  necessity  of  an  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  for  that  purpose,  since  enactment  by  the  Legis- 
lature might  be  of  doubtful  constitutionality  and  liable  to  repeal.20 
Under  an  Act  of  1792,  the  succession  was  in  .the  President  pro  tempore 
of  the  Senate,  and  failing  him  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. Johnson  suggested  that  it  was  more  suitable  to  vest  it 
in  the  Executive  branch  of  the  Government  than  in  either  the  Legis- 
lature or  the  Judiciary,  especially  since  both  the  President  pro  tem- 
pore of  the  Senate  and  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
might  be  members  of  a  tribunal  by  which  the  vacancy  in  the  Presi- 
dency was  produced.  He  accordingly  recommended  an  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  whereby  the  duties  of  the  President  should,  in 
the  event  contemplated,  devolve  upon  some  one  of  the  Heads  of  the 
Executive  Departments.  Johnson's  recommendation  was  scornfully 
ignored;  but  eighteen  years  afterwards,  January  19,  1886,  Congress 
passed  an  act  vesting  in  the  Cabinet  the  succession  to  the  Presidency, 
in  case  of  the  removal,  death  or  other  disability  of  both  President 
and  Vice-President,  and  making  the  order  of  precedence  as  follows : 
the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  Secretary 

20  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  VI,  639. 


JOHNSON. 

of  War,  the  Attorney-General,  the  Postmaster-General,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.21 

As  an  immediate  result  of  the  trial  proceedings,  the  entire  law  code 
relating  to  ad  interim  service  in  the  Departments  was  revised.  An 
act  of  July  23,  1868,  swept  away  all  of  the  preceding  legislation  upon 
the  subject  and  ordered  that  the  first  or  sole  assistant  in  any  Depart- 
ment should  in  case  of  the  death,  resignation,  absence,  or  sickness 
of  the  head  thereof,  perform  the  duties  of  such  head  until  a  suc- 
cessor were  appointed  or  the  disability  should  cease.  The  President 
might,  however,  at  his  discretion  authorize  the  head  of  another 
Department  or  some  other  officer  therein  who  was  appointed  by  the 
President  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  perform  the 
duties,  provided  that  in  case  of  death  or  resignation,  the  vacancy 
should  not  be  supplied  in  this  manner  longer  than  ten  days. 

In  actual  practice  the  Assistant  Secretaries  had  already  become  the 
usual,  if  not  the  regular  directors  of  their  departments,  in  case  of  the 
disability  of  the  heads;  and  since  this  enactment,  the  practice  has 
become  almost  invariable.  Under  the  existing  Departmental  organi- 
zation, it  would  provoke  jealousy,  if  the  Head  of  one  Department 
were  temporarily  placed  over  another,  unless  some  special  situation 
seemed  to  necessitate  the  arrangement.  The  most  recent  instance 
of  the  sort  occurred  upon  the  death  of  Secretary  Hay,  July,  1905, 
when  President  Roosevelt  informally  designated  Secretary  Taft  of 
the  War  Department  to  take  charge  of  certain  matters  appertaining 
to  the  State  Department. 

Upon  the  accession  of  President  Grant,  Congress  acknowledged 
the  temporary  character  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act  by  so  amending 
it,  April  5,  1869,  that  the  suspending  power  became  almost  equiva- 
lent to  removal.  The  Cabinet  proviso  was  stricken  out ;  and  in  lieu 
of  the  provision  that  officers  duly  appointed  and  qualified  should  hold 
their  places  until  successors  should  be  appointed  and  qualified,  the 
amendment  declared  that  such  officers  should  hold  "  during  the 
term "  for  which  they  should  have  been  appointed,  unless  sooner 
removed,  etc. 

An  immediate  result  was  a  new  precedent  governing  the  retention 

21  George  F.  Hoar,  Autobiography  of  Seventy  Years,  II,  168-171. 


2O4  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

of  Cabinet  officers  from  one  presidential  term  of  four  years  into 
another,  March  17,  1873,  President  Grant,  with  the  concurrence  of 
the  Senate,  reappointed  all  of  his  Cabinet,  except  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  who  was  retiring,  although  their  respective  periods  of 
service  varied  from  four  years  and  twelve  days,  in  the  case  of  the 
Postmaster-General,  to  one  year  and  two  months  in  that  of  the 
Attorney-General.  The  situation  did  not  recur  until  1901  when 
President  McKinley,  on  March  3,  reappointed  all  of  his  Cabinet. 
March  6,  1905,  President  Roosevelt,  entering  upon  a  new  term  of 
office,  likewise  reappointed  all  of  his  Cabinet,  except  the  two  mem- 
bers who  were  retiring.  This  new  practice  does  not  extend  to  the 
interruption  of  a  presidential  term  by  the  death  of  the  President  and 
the  accession  of  another  incumbent.  Thus  President  Arthur  retained 
permanently  one  member  of  the  Cabinet  whom  he  found  in  office, 
and  the  others  remained  a  few  months,  but  he  reappointed  none. 
President  Roosevelt  likewise  made  no  reappointments  until  the  ex- 
piration of  the  Constitutional  term  of  his  predecessor. 


PRESIDENT. 
ULYSSES  S.  GRANT,  Illinois. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
SCHUYLER    COLFAX,   Indiana. 


March  4,  1869,  to  March  4,  1873. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
ELIHU  B.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois,  March  5,  1869. 
HAMILTON  FISH,  of  New  York,  March  n,  1869. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

JOHN  F.  HARTLEY,  of  Maine  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  March  5,  1869. 
GEORGE  S.  BOUTWELL,  of  Massachusetts,  March  n,  1869. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

JOHN  M.  SCHOFIELD,  of  Illinois;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  A.  RAWLINS,  of  Illinois,  March  n,  1869. 
WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN,  of  Ohio,  September  9,  1869. 
WILLIAM  W.  BELKNAP,  of  Iowa,  October  25,  1869. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 
J.  HUBLEY  ASHTON,  of  Pennsylvania   (Assistant  Attorney-General),  acting, 

March  5,  1869. 

EBENEZER  R.  HOAR,  of  Massachusetts,  March  5,  1869. 
AMOS  T.  AKERMAN,  of  Georgia,  June  23,  1870. 

GEORGE  H.  WILLIAMS,  of  Oregon,  December  14,  1871,  to  take  effect  January  10, 
1872. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

ST.  JOHN  B.  L.  SKINNER,  of  New  York  (First  Assistant  Postmaster-General), 

ad  interim,  March  4,  1869. 
JOHN  A.  J.  CRESSWELL,  of  Maryland,  March  5,  1869. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 
WILLIAM  FAXON,  of  Connecticut   (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  March 

4,   1869. 

ADOLPH  E.  BORIE,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  5,  1869. 
GEORGE  M.  ROBESON,  of  New  Jersey,  June  25,  1869. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 
JACOB  D.  Cox,  of  Ohio,  March  5,  1869. 
COLUMBUS  DELANO,  of  Ohio,  November  i,  1870. 

205 


PRESIDENT. 
ULYSSES  S.  GRANT,  Illinois. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
HENRY  WILSON,  Massachusetts.     (Died  November  22,  1875.) 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
THOMAS  W.  FERRY,  Michigan.  - 


March  4,   1873,  to  March  4,  1877. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

HAMILTON  FISH,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
HAMILTON  FISH,  of  New  York;  recommissioned  March  17,  1873. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

GEORGE  S.  BOUTWELL,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
•WILLIAM  A.  RICHARDSON,  of  Massachusetts,  March  17,  1873. 
BENJAMIN  H.  BRISTOW,  of  Kentucky,  June  2,  1874. 
CHARLES  F.  CONANT,  of  New  Hampshire  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim, 

June  21,  i876t 
LOT  M.  MORRILL,  of  Maine,  June  21,  1876. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

WILLIAM   W.   BELKNAP,  of  Iowa;   continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  W.  BELKNAP,  of  Iowa;  recommissioned  March  17,  1873. 
GEORGE  M.  ROBESON,  of  New  Jersey   (Secretary  of  the  Navy),  ad  interim, 

March  2,   1876.  . 

ALPHONSO  TAFT,  of  Ohio,  March  8,  1876. 
JAMES  D.  CAMERON,  of  Pennsylvania,  May  22,  1876. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

GEORGE  H.  WILLIAMS,  of  Oregon;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
GEORGE  H.  WILLIAMS,  of  Oregon;  recommissioned  March  17,  1873. 
EDWARDS  PIERREPONT,  of  New  York,  April  26,   1875,  to  take  effect  May  15 

1875. 
ALPHONSO  TAFT,  of  Ohio,  May  22,  1876. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

JOHN  A.  J.   CRESSWELL,  of  Maryland;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  A.  J.  CRESSWELL,  of  Maryland,  recommissioned  March  17,  1873. 
JAMES  W.  MARSHALL,  of  Virginia,  July  3,  1874. 
MARSHALL  JEWELL,  of  Connecticut,  August  24,  1874. 
JAMES  M.  TYNER,  of  Indiana,  July  12,  1876. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

GEORGE  M.   ROBESON,  of   New  Jersey;   continued  from  last  Administration. 
GEORGE  M.  ROBESON,  of  New  Jersey;  recommissioned  March  17,  1873. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

COLUMBUS  DELANO,  of  Ohio ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
COLUMBUS  DELANO,  of  Ohio,  recommissioned  March  17,  1873. 
BENJAMIN  R.  COWEN,  of  Ohio  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  September 

30,   1875. 
ZACHARIAH   CHANDLER,  of  Michigan,   October  19,   1875. 

206 


GRANT. 

Down  to  1869  the  materials  for  the  study  of  the  Cabinet  are 
rich  and  accessible.  From  the  published  correspondence  and  diaries 
of  men  in  immediate  touch  with  affairs,  together  with  available 
manuscripts,  we  catch  the  inner  spirit  of  Executive  relations  and 
incidents.  But  from  1869  to  1911,  there  is  only  the  periodical  litera- 
ture, which  is  rarely  a  faithful  picture  of  what  it  represents,  and  the 
memoirs  and  biographies  that  have  been  published  too  early  to  lift 
the  veil  from  the  personal  features  of  political  history.  Only  a  bald 
outline  of  Cabinet  events  can  be  drawn.  And  yet  the  narrow  glimpse 
that  is  afforded  shows  unmistakably  that  a  fuller  view  would  discover 
points  of  the  liveliest  interest  and  of  much  significance. 

President  Grant's  administration  is  the  unsavory  period  in  Cabinet 
affairs.  And  it  further  presents  a  most  extraordinary  array  of 
departures  from  the  normal  course  of  the  Executive.  It  was 
variously  styled  a  "  military  rule,"  a  "  personal  rule,"  and  a  "  de- 
partmental regime."  The  Executive  Office  was  open  to  the  "  Sena- 
torial group  "  that  figured  in  the  public  prints  at  the  time.  And  the 
ante-rooms  were  under  the  direction  of  members  of  General  Grant's 
late  military  staff,  who  became  a  sort  of  "  Kitchen  Cabinet."  It  was 
as  though  George  Mason's  prediction  had  come  to  pass,  that  the 
President  would  become  the  tool  of  the  Senate,  or  would  be  con- 
trolled by  minions  and  favorites.1  Furthermore,  the  official  Cabinet 
became  both  the  camp  of  the  President's  personal  friends  and  the 
battleground  of  politicians.  Its  roster  was  in  a  continual  flux, 

General  Grant's  naivete  about  civil  affairs  resulted  in  the  an- 
nouncement of  a  most  impracticable  Cabinet  slate.  And,  before  a 
working  Executive  was  fully  secured,  more  than  three  months  had 
elapsed.  March  5,  1869,  six  Cabinet  appointments  were  made,  to 
be  followed  on  the  nth  by  a  revisionary  list  of  three. 

1  Chapter,  The  Origin  of  the  Cabinet. 

207 


208  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

There  had  been  a  special  arrangement  at  the  War  Office  that  was 
in  no  way  chargeable  to  inexperience.  General  Schofield  was  re- 
tained a  week  from  the  Johnson  Cabinet,  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
into  operation  certain  new  regulations  concerning  the  War  Depart- 
ment and  the  army,  in  which  he  and  President  Grant  had  been  inter- 
ested together,  while  the  latter  was  General-in-Chief.2  The  common 
interpretation  of  the  matter  was  that  a  special  compliment  was  paid  to 
Schofield,  because  his  assumption  of  the  War  Office  had  assisted  in  re- 
storing peace  between  the  Executive  and  Congress.  At  the  expiration 
of  a  week,  General  John  A.  Rawlins  was  set  over  the  Department. 
Both  military  comrade  and  personal  friend  of  the  President's,  some 
men  saw  in  him  qualities  that  promised  a  very  salutary  influence  over 
his  chief. 

In  appointing  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  President  and  Sena- 
tors alike  were  convicted  of  ignorance  or  inadvertency.  The  man 
chosen  was  Alexander  T.  Stewart,  the  leading  merchant  of  New 
York  City.  In  this  matter,  General  Grant  manifested  the  disposition, 
often  laid  to  his  charge,  to  heap  official  honors  upon  men  of  wealth 
who  had  been  of  service  to  him.  But  Mr.  Stewart  by  his  peculiar 
talents  was  fitted  for  the  office,  and  was  ambitious  to  crown  his 
success  in  the  business  world  with  public  distinction.  But  a  legal 
obstacle  existed.  And  it  was  nothing  less  than  the  exclusion  of  men 
engaged  in  trade  on  a  scale  that  made  them  importers  from  the 
higher  offices  in  the  Treasury  Department,  provided  in  the  very 
Act  that  established  the  Department,  and  repeated  in  half  a  dozen 
later  statutes.3  That  the  watch  Congress  had  kept  over  Andrew 
Johnson's  Cabinet  operations  did  not  save  the  Senate  from  being 
caught  napping  the  moment  he  was  out  of  the  Presidency  was  a  bit 
ludicrous.  But  the  Stewart  appointment  was  confirmed  without 
questions.  When  the  blunder  was  discovered,  the  President  was 
disposed  to  demand  legislation  that  should  remove  the  difficulty. 
And  a  motion  was  introduced  by  Senator  Sherman  to  repeal  the 
prohibiting  clauses.  Mr.  Stewart,  on  the  other  hand,  was  consid- 
ering the  conveyance  of  his  business  interests  to  others  during 

2  Schofield,  Forty-Six  Years  in  the  Army,  418. 
8  Statutes  at  Large,  I,  65. 


GRANT.  209 

his  incumbency.  But  the  legal  advices,  in  which  the  prospective 
Attorney-General,  Judge  E.  Rockwood  Hoar,  took  part,  were  unfav- 
orable to  special  arrangements  in  any  form.4  The  issue  was  that  the 
Treasury  portfolio,  was  conferred  upon  George  S.  Boutwell,  a  man 
who  had  had  the  training  that  the  great  financial  committees  give, 
and  had  gained  another  sort  of  fame  as  a  manager  for  the  im- 
peachment of  President  Johnson.  The  appointment  was  approved 
for  bringing  into  the  administration  the  element  of  Congressional 
experience.  But  the  double  representation  that  Massachusetts  re- 
ceived by  the  choice  of  both  Mr.  Boutwell  and  Judge  Hoar  was  a 
factor  in  the  Attorney-General's  early  retirement. 

The  fruitless  appointment  at  the  Treasury  seems  to  have  been  the 
loose  cog  that  upset  the  gearing  for  the  State  Department.  Elihu 
B.  Washburne  was  incumbent  of  that  portfolio  for  a  single  week, 
and  then  gave  way  to  Hamilton  Fish  of  New  York.  The  selection 
of  Mr.  Washburne  had  something  of  the  personal  in  it.  As  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  for  the  Galena  District  of  Illi- 
nois, he  was  one  of  the  discoverers  of  General  Grant.  His  assign- 
ment to  the  State  Department  was  peculiar,  because  the  nick-name 
he  had  earned  in  Congress,  "  watch-dog  of  the  Treasury/'  seemed 
to  mark  him  for  the  Finances.  However,  he  immediately  accepted 
the  French  Mission,  and  rendered  very  acceptable  service  during  the 
Franco-Prussian  War.  Had  he  continued  in  the  Cabinet  after  the 
appointment  of  General  Rawlins,  the  anomaly  of  double  represen- 
tation must  have  extended  to  Illinois.  But  it  would  not  have  been 
so  serious  as  the  assignment  of  both  the  State  and  Treasury  Depart- 
ments to  the  Empire  State.5 

Probably  the  Washburne  appointment  was  not  considered  tempo- 
rary, when  it  was  made.  The  permanent  incumbent  had  had  no 
previous  notice ;  but  was  pressed  into  the  State  Department  in  sum- 
mary fashion.6  Though  Mr.  Fish  had  been  a  member  of  both  Houses 

*  Senate  Journal,  41   Congress,  First  Session,   14,   15,  28;  Boutwell,  Sixty 
Years  of  Public  Affairs,  II,  205;  Hoar,  Autobiography  of  Seventy  Years,  I, 
241. 

5  Boutwell,  Sixty  Years  of  Public  Affairs,  II,  213. 

*  Pierce,  Memoir  of  Charles  Sumner,  II,  39,  Fish  to  Sumner,  March  13, 
1869. 


2io  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

of  Congress,  and  Governor  of  his  State,  his  political  retirement  from 
the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party  made  him  a  some- 
what antiquated  figure.  There  was  not  much  enthusiasm  over  his 
appearance  as  Secretary  of  State;  but  the  fact  did  not  prejudice  the 
recognition  that  he  gained  for  presiding  with  dignity  over  diplomatic 
affairs,  and  negotiating  the  Treaty  of  Washington. 

The  Cabinet  cast,  as  completed  on  March  u,  was  broken  again  in 
June  by  the  resignation  of  Secretary  Adolph  E.  Borie  from  the  Navy 
Department.  The  gentleman's  qualifications  for  the  office  had  con- 
sisted of  his  social  position  as  a  wealthy  Philadelphian,  and  the  fa- 
vors he  had  shown  to  General  Grant.  Only  one  Senator,  it  is  said, 
recognized  the  name,  when  the  nomination  was  read.  Naval  affairs 
proving  distasteful,  Mr.  Borie  resigned,  after  an  incumbency  of  less 
than  four  months,  during  which  interval,  as  he  himself  pleasantly 
averred,  Admiral  Porter  had  directed  the  Department.7  George  M. 
Robeson,  a  prominent  New  Jersey  lawyer,  became  a  more  permanent 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

A  change  then  occurred  that  was  a  real  misfortune  to  President 
Grant.  Only  six  months  after  his  appointment  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment, General  Rawlins  died.  And  his  place  was  taken  by  General  W. 
W.  Belknap  of  Iowa,  who  was  also  a  military  favorite.8  General  Jacob 
D.  Cox,  himself  Secretary  of  the  Interior  at  the  time,  is  responsible 
for  the  statement  that,  if  this  break  in  the  administration  had  not 
occurred,  the  President  would  not  have  fallen  under  the  sway  of 
politicians  and  army  minions  in  the  way  that  he  did.  Rawlins  had 
no  particular  genius  for  civil  affairs ;  but  he  possessed  some  insight 
into  government  by  deliberation.  This  was  what  General  Grant 

7  McCulloch,  Men  and  Measures  of  half  a  Century,  350. 

8  For  a  brief  interval,  William  T.  Sherman,  General-in-Chief  of  the  Army, 
served  as  Secretary  of  War  by  a  vacation  commission,  the  office  of  Assistant- 
Secretary  having  been  abolished. 

A  somewhat  similar  expedient  appears  on  the  Cabinet  rolls  in  the  bridging 
over  of  the  interval  between  the  retirement  of  Postmaster-General  Cresswell, 
July  3,  1874,  and  the  appointment  of  Marshall  Jewell.  James  W.  Marshall, 
First  Assistant-Postmaster-General,  was  made  Head  of  the  Department  by  a 
vacation  commission. 


GRANT.  211 

notoriously  lacked,  and  the  favor  with  which  he  regarded  his  Sec- 
retary of  War  gave  promise  that  the  deficiency  might  be  supplied.9 

It  is  generally  acknowledged  that  President  Grant  used  the  meth- 
ods of  his  military  command  in  directing  his  civil  subordinates. 
The  most  astounding  departure  from  official  precedent,  as  described 
by  Secretary  Cox,  was  the  affront  given  to  the  entire  Cabinet,  and 
especially  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  the  negotiation  of  the  treaty  to 
annex  San  Domingo  to  the  United  States.  The  President's  agent 
was  General  O.  F.  Babcock,  who,  in  the  role  of  irregular  private 
secretary,  bore  some  such  relation  to  him,  as  Major  Lewis  had  done 
to  Jackson.  There  had  been  occasional  discussion  of  the  subject  of 
annexation  among  the  members  of  the  administration,  incidentally 
to  overtures  from  the  San  Domingan  Government.  And,  although 
the  President  had  not  committed  himself,  a  general  impression  had 
settled  down  that  both  Executive  and  Congress  were  opposed  to  the 
project.  General  Babcock,  however,  was  despatched  to  San  Domingo 
for  the  alleged  purpose  of  reporting  as  an  engineer  upon  the 
desirability  of  one  of  the  harbors  for  a  coaling  station.  Some  weeks 
later,  the  Cabinet  was  electrified  by  the  President's  announcement 
that  Babcock  had  returned,  bringing  a  treaty  for  the  annexation  of 
San  Domingo,  and  that  the  difficulty  of  his  having  acted  without 
proper  diplomatic  powers  could  be  easily  remedied  by  securing  the 
signature  of  the  consular  agent.  Cabinet  discussion  went  no  fur- 
ther than  Secretary  Cox's  question :  "  But  Mr.  President,  has  it  been 
settled,  then,  that  we  want  to  annex  San  Domingo  ? "  But  the 
treaty  was  duly  submitted  to  the  Senate.  Secretary  Fish  tendered 
his  resignation  in  consequence  of  the  slight ; 10  but  some  influence 
constrained  him  to  remain  at  his  post,  presumably  fear  for  the  Presi- 
dent's soundness  as  a  party  man. 

The  McGarrahan  Claim  affair  was  the  occasion  of  another  extraor- 
dinary assertion  of  the  President's  discretion.  In  this  matter,  the 
Department  of  the  Interior  was  concerned  with  a  demand  for  a  patent 
to  mining  lands  in  California.  President  Grant  herein  set  at  naught 
the  official  opinion  of  Attorney-General  Hoar,  and  enjoined  Secre- 

8  Jacob  D.  Cox,  How  Judge  Hoar  Ceased  to  be  Attorney-General,  in  Atlantic 
Monthly,  LXXVI,  162-173. 
10  Reminiscences  of  Carl  Schurz,  III,  323. 


212  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

tary  Cox  from  carrying  out  the  statute  that  related  to  the  subject.11 
Both  officers  were  among  the  ablest  members  of  the  Administration, 
and  the  unconventional  treatment  accorded  to  them  was  a  factor  in 
their  retirement,  though  not  the  immediate  circumstance. 

The  chief  cause  of  the  generally  unsettled  condition  of  this  Cabinet 
was  the  strife  between  the  reign  of  party  politics  in  the  Departments 
and  the  rising  demand  for  Civil  Service  Reform.  An  excep- 
tional opportunity  for  the  control  of  the  appointive  offices  by  Con- 
gressmen had  been  afforded  by  the  degradation  of  the  Executive 
power  in  the  hands  of  President  Johnson.  And  a  coterie  of  singu- 
larly astute  politicians  in  the  Senate  had  made  haste  to  improve  it. 
The  chief  of  the  "  Senatorial  group  "  was  Rpscoe  Conkling  who  was 
now  assuming  Seward's  place  as  party  leader  in  New  York.  Oliver 
P.  Morton  of  Indiana  was  another  of  its  members.  And  figures  that 
had  been  a  little  longer  on  the  scene  were  Chandler  of  Michigan  and 
Cameron  of  Pennsylvania.  The  reform  movement,  on  the  other 
hand,  expressed  itself  in  unmistakable  terms  in  the  Liberal  Repub- 
lican defection  in  1872.  President  Grant  oscillated  between  the  two 
forces.  And  Cabinet  officers  were  both  made  and  unmade  for  their 
reform  sentiments. 

Of  the  original  appointments,  both  Judge  Hoar  and  General  Cox 
chanced  to  be  reformers.  Furthermore,  Judge  Hoar  soon  found 
occasion  to  ignore  the  rule  of  "  Senatorial  courtesy "  in  making 
recommendations  for  filling  the  great  judicial  offices  that  were  cre- 
ated by  the  Act  that  established  the  United  States  Circuit  Court. 
The  President  supported  his  Attorney-General;  but  was  not  equal 
to  protecting  him  afterwards.12  He  nominated  Judge  Hoar  to  the 
Supreme  Bench  of  the  United  States,  but  disaffected  Senators  de- 
feated the  appointment.  A  little  later  the  Attorney-General  yielded 
his  place  to  Amos  T.  Akerman  of  Georgia.  The  latter  gentleman 
had  little  to  recommend  him  except  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Southern 
Republican.  There  were  indications  that  his  appointment  was  the 
price  paid  to  the  "  carpet  bagger  "  Senators  for  their  votes  on  the 
San  Domingan  treaty.13  The  influence  of  the  Senatorial  politicians 

11  The  Nation,  XI,  324. 

"Boutwell,  Sixty  Years  of  Public  Affairs,  II,  211. 

18  J.  D.  Cox  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  LXXVI,  163-173. 


GRANT.  213 

with  .the  President  became  well  assured  during  this  session.  Mr. 
Conkling's  ascendency  dated  from  a  struggle  to  confirm  a  collector 
of  customs  at  New  York  that  terminated  in  July,  1870."  A  second 
reformer  disappeared  from  the  Cabinet  for  coming  into  conflict  with 
Senator  Cameron.  Secretary  Cox  protested  against  the  levying  of 
assessments  upon  clerks  in  his  Department  in  the  elections  of  1870. 
President  Grant  failed  to  sustain  him.  And  Columbus  Delano,  who 
had  been  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  and  latterly 
Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  became  Secretary  of  .the  Interior. 
With  this  reform  sentiments  disappeared  from  the  administration. 

President  Grant  entered  upon  his  second  term  of  office  without 
giving  the  Liberal  Republican  movement  any  immediate  notice. 
With  a  single  exception,  he  reappointed  his  entire  Cabinet.  Secretary 
Boutwell  of  the  Treasury  was  able  to  satisfy  his  preference  for 
legislative  work  by  election  to  the  seat  in  the  Senate  that  was  vacated 
when  Henry  Wilson  became  Vice-President.  His  successor  was 
William  A.  Richardson,  whose  credentials  consisted  in  the  fact 
that  he  represented  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  already  on 
the  ground  as  Assistant-Secretary.  The  "carpet-bagger  "  Attorney- 
General  had  previously  given  place  to  George  H.  Williams,  who 
brought  the  Pacific  Coast  into  the  administration. 

A  peculiarly  low  ebb  in  the  character  of  the  Cabinet  is  now 
reached.  Not  only  had  the  standards  of  ability  fallen,  but  charges 
of  corruption  were  rife.  The  columns  of  such  a  journal  as  the 
Nation,  which  was  especially  sane  and  reliable  at  this  time,  show  the 
Secretaries  under  almost  constant  fire.  Changes  occurred  in  rapid 
succession.  In  June,  1874,  Secretary  Richardson  was  driven  from 
the  Treasury  Department  by  the  scandal  of  the  Sanborn  contracts. 
These  were  contracts  for  the  collection  of  certain  taxes  and  excises 
that  had  been  illegally  withheld  from  the  Government,  in  executing 
which  a  man  named  Sanborn  collected,  at  an  enormous  commission, 
funds  that  were  within  the  proper  province  of  the  Internal  Revenue 
Bureau.  The  investigation  by  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives would  have  resulted  in  a  resolution  of  lack  of  confidence 
in  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  not  the  President  quieted  the 

14  Conkling,  Life  and  Letters  of  Roscoe  Conkling,  326. 


214  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

affair  by  appointing  Mr.  Richardson  to  the  Court  of  Claims,  and 
promoting  Benjamin  F.  Bristow  of  Kentucky,  who  was  an  avowed 
Civil  Service  Reformer  to  the  Head  of  the  Treasury.15  Almost  simul- 
taneously, Postmaster-General  Cresswell  retired.  There  was  a  tender 
of  the  vacant  place  to  Representative  Eugene  Hale  of  Maine,  that  is 
of  interest  for  its  factional  significance.  For,  while  Mr.  Hale  had 
personal  ties  to  some  of  the  Grant  chieftains,  he  was  identified 
politically  with  the  fortunes  of  James  G.  Elaine,  who  was  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  one  of  the  new  figures  on  the 
Presidential  horizon.  Between  Senator  Conkling  and  Mr.  Blaine 
relations  of  avowed  hostility  already  existed.16  Any  idea  of  cement- 
ing factions  was  thrust  aside  by  Mr.  Hale's  declining  the  Post-Office 
and  its  vast  patronage  for  the  alleged  reason  of  ill  health.17  The 
place  was  filled  by  the  appointment  of  Marshall  Jewell  of  Con- 
necticut, a  choice  that  is  classed  as  one  of  General  Grant's  reform- 
ing measures.  Meanwhile  Attorney-General  Williams  had  incurred 
censure  for  his  looseness  in  prosecuting  evaders  of  the  excise.  This 
was  probably  the  cause  of  the  refusal  of  the  Senate  to  act  upon 
his  name,  when  President  Grant  nominated  him  for  Chief  Justice 
of  the  United  States  in  December,  i874.18  In  the  following  May, 
Edwards  Pierrepont  of  New  York  succeeded  to  the  Attorney-General- 
ship; and  somewhat  improved  the  credit  of  the  office.19  In  October, 
1875,  Secretary  Delano  retired  from  the  Interior  Department,  where 
he  had  been  under  constant  fire  from  the  reformers  and  independents 
who  never  forgave  him  for  succeeding  General  Cox.  While  Mr. 
Delano  was  ably  succeeded  by  Senator  Chandler,  the  appointment 
of  the  latter  marked  the  tightening  of  the  grip  of  the  politicians  upon 
the  administration,  which  had  relaxed  during  the  preceding  year, 
as  a  result  of  the  disclosure  of  frauds  in  the  internal  revenue  service. 
The  most  serious  scandal  within  the  Executive  grew  out  of  Secre- 
tary Belknap's  sale  of  traderships  at  the  army  posts ;  and  was  the 

15  Hoar,  Autobiography  of  Seventy  Years,  I,  325. 
16Boutwell,  Sixty  Years  of  Public  Affairs,  II,  260. 

17  The  Nation,  XIX,  i. 

18  The  Nation,  XVII,  415. 

19  Ibid.,  XX,  305. 


GRANT.  215 

occasion  of  the  first  and  only  impeachment  of  a  Cabinet  officer.  This 
occurred  in  the  spring  of  1876.  On  March  3,  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives adopted  articles  of  impeachment,  appointed  managers,  and 
notified  the  Senate ;  but  while  this  action  was  being  taken,  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  resigned,  and  the  President  accepted  his  resignation. 
The  issue  was  now  made,  whether  the  Senate  had  authority  to  con- 
vict a  party  who  had  been  an  officer  of  the  Government,  but  had 
ceased  to  be  such,  before  impeachment  proceedings  were  instituted. 
Upon  the  plea  of  lack  of  jurisdiction,  the  majority  requisite  to  con- 
vict upon  impeachment  failed  to  be  secured,  though  the  vote  stood 
37  to  25  against  the  accused.30 

The  late  Senator  Hoar,  who  was  the  chief  manager  of  the  im- 
peachment, expressed  the  belief  that  party  feeling  operated  to  save 
Belknap  from  the  full  penalty  prescribed  by  the  Constitution ;  and 
that  the  opinion  expressed  by  the  vote  of  the  majority,  that  his 
liability  was  not  terminated  by  resignation,  will  prevail  hereafter, 
unless  political  sympathies  should  prevent.21  But,  nevertheless,  the 
way  was  found  to  vitiate  the  Constitutional  provision  for  dealing  with 
misconduct  in  office,  so  far  as  officers  holding  at  the  President's  pleas- 
ure are  concerned. 

With  the  retirement  of  General  Belknap,  the  War  Office  was  mo- 
mentarily conferred  upon  Judge  Alphonso  Taft  of  Ohio,  who  was, 
however,  transferred  to  the  Attorney-Generalship  two  months  later, 
when  Mr.  Pierrepont,  his  predecessor  in  that  office,  became  Minister 
to  England.  Though  the  change  was  approved  by  the  better  judg- 
ment of  the  country,  its  alleged  purpose  was  to  vacate  the  War 
Department  for  Don  J.  Cameron,  Senator  Cameron's  son.22  The  ap- 
proach of  the  presidential  election  gave  the  remnant  of  the  adminis- 
tration entirely  to  the  politicians.  Mr.  Bristow,  the  reforming  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  had  been  for  some  time  treading  dangerous 
ground  in  the  prosecution  of  the  "  whiskey  ring  "  for  the  evasion  of 
the  excise  wherein  he  had  come  into  conflict  with  some  of  the  Presi- 
dent's personal  favorites,  notably  General  Babcock,  the  negotiator  of 

20  Congressional  Record,  IV,  Part  7,  "Trial  of  W.  W.  Belknap. 

21  Hoar,  Autobiography  of  Seventy  Years,  I,  365. 

22  The  Nation,  XXII,  327. 


216  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

the  San  Domingo  treaty.23  Postmaster-General  Jewell,  likewise,  showed 
a  disposition  to  scrutinize  postal  contracts  more  sharply  than  the 
prevailing  sentiment  required.24  Furthermore,  the  Republican  Na- 
tional Convention,  which  incorporated  a  civil  service  reform  plank 
in  its  platform,  brought  forward  each  of  those  gentlemen  as  a  reform 
candidate  for  the  presidential  nomination.  Mr.  Jewell's  following 
amounted  to  nothing  more  than  the  vote  of  his  own  State.  But  Mr. 
Bristow's  candidacy  was  formidable  enough  to  bring  him  into  re- 
proach for  setting  himself  up  against  Senator  Conkling,  the  adminis- 
tration candidate.25  Notwithstanding  the  warnings  of  the  inde- 
pendent press  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  open  the  campaign  by 
offending  the  reforming  Republicans,  Mr.  Bristow  yielded  his  place 
in  the  Cabinet  to  Senator  Lot  M.  Morrill  of  Maine ;  which  was  at 
least  a  more  dignified  arrangement  than  the  one  that  simultaneously 
occurred  in  the  Post-Office.  In  the  latter  Department,  the  pro- 
motion of  James  M.  Tyner  of  Indiana  from  the  position  of  Second 
Assistant  was  a  bald  expedient  for  securing  a  pivotal  State  to  the 
Republican  party,  being  presumably  dictated  by  Senator  Morton,  who 
had  rivalled  Conkling  in  the  administration  councils,  and  had  been 
himself  a  candidate  for  the  presidential  nomination. 

An  important  change  in  the  Executive  organization  occurred 
under  President  Grant.  An  act  was  passed,  June  22,  1870,  to  estab- 
lish a  Department  of  Justice  whereof  the  Attorney-General  became 
the  head.  The  Attorney-Generalship  as  established  by  the  original 
Judiciary  Act,  in  addition  to  the  function  of  prosecuting  in  the 
Supreme  Court  suits  in  which  the  United  States  was  concerned, 
was  charged  with  the  duty  of  furnishing  advice  and  opinions  on 
questions  of  law  to  the  President  and  the  Heads  of  Departments, 
in  matters  concerning  the  performance  of  their  duties.  Washington 
viewed  the  office  as  a  purely  judicial  one,  but  soon  associated  its 
incumbent  with  his  Executive  coadjutors  in  his  Cabinet.  Whether 
the  officer  should  also  advise  Congress,  or  its  Committees,  as  to  the 
validity  of  pending  legislation  was  a  question  that  came  up  from 

23  The  Nation,  XXIII,  2. 

24  The  Nation,  XXIII,  18. 
"The  Nation,  XXIII,  in. 


GRANT. 

time  to  time ;  and  Attorneys-General  Wirt,  Taney,  Crittenden,  Bates, 
Evarts,  and  Williams  may  be  mentioned  as  having  declined  on  legal 
grounds  to  render  such  service,  although  other  incumbents  of  the 
office  acted  in  this  capacity  by  courtesy.  By  act  of  August  2,  1861, 
and  incidentally  to  the  general  enlargement  of  the  Departments  to 
meet  the  demands  of  the  Civil  War,  the  Attorney-General  was 
charged  with  the  superintendence  and  direction  of  the  marshals  and 
district  attorneys  throughout  the  United  States  and  its  Territories. 
By  the  act  which  erected  the  office  into  the  headship  of  a  Department, 
the  duties  of  the  Attorney-General  were  left  substantially  as  they  had 
been  previously  defined,  with  the  extension  of  his  functions  in  the 
courts  to  correspond  with  the  enlargement  of  the  Federal  judiciary. 
A  Solicitor-General  also  was  provided  to  assist  the  Attorney-General 
and  to  act  in  his  stead  in  case  of  vacancy,  or  disability;  and  the 
two  Assistant  Attorney-Generalships  already  existing  were  con- 
tinued ;  later  acts  have  added  additional  assistants.  The  first 
Attorney-General  to  enjoy  the  dignity  of  being  a  Department  Head 
was  Amos  T.  Akerman  of  Georgia.26 

26  The  Government  of  the  Confederate  States  anticipated  the  National 
Government  in  making  the  Attorney-General  the  Head  of  a  Department, 
inasmuch  as  it  passed  an  act,  February  21,  1861,  to  create  a  Department  of 
Justice,  wherein  the  powers  of  the  Attorney-General  were  defined  precisely 
as  in  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  after  the  supervision  over  marshals  and 
district  attorneys  had  been  added. 


PRESIDENT. 
RUTHERFORD  B.  HAYES,  Ohio. 

VICE-  PRESIDENT. 
WILLIAM  A.  WHEELER,  New  York. 


March  5,  1877,  to  March  4,  1881. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

HAMILTON  FISH,  of  New  York ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS,  of  New  York,  March  12,  1877. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

LOT  M.  MORRILL,  of  Maine ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  SHERMAN,  of  Ohio,  March  8,  1877. 

HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  of  Massachusetts  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  March 
4,  1881. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

JAMES  D.  CAMERON,  of  Pennsylvania ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
GEORGE  W.  MC€RARY,  of  Iowa,  March  12,  1877. 
ALEXANDER  RAMSEY,  of  Minnesota,  December  10,  1879. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 
CHARLES  DEVANS,  of  Massachusetts,  March  12,  1877. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

JAMES  M.  TYNER,  of  Indiana ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
DAVID  M.  KEY,  of  Tennessee,  March  12,  1877. 
HORACE  MAYNARD,  of  Tennessee,  June  2,  1880. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

GEORGE   M.   ROBESON,  of  New  Jersey;   continued  from  last  Administration. 
RICHARD  W.  THOMPSON,  of  Indiana,  March  12,  1877. 
ALEXANDER  RAMSEY,  of  Minnesota  (Secretary  of  War),  ad  interim,  December 

21,  1880. 
NATHAN  GOFF,  JR.,  of  West  Virginia,  January  6,  1881. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER,  of  Michigan;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
CARL  SCHURZ,  of  Missouri,  March  12,  1877. 


HAYES. 

The  salient  facts  about  the  Hayes  Cabinet  are  its  draught  upon  the 
Independents,  or  Reformers,  and  its  failure  to  represent  the  great 
factions  of  the  Republican  party.  The  combination  that  nominated 
Rutherford  B.  Hayes  for  the  Presidency  was  an  incongruous  one. 
The  very  chieftains  who  controlled  President  Grant  united  with  men 
who  had  been  Liberal  Republicans  in  1872,  in  a  common  purpose  to 
defeat  Mr.  Elaine.  But  with  the  nomination  determined,  the  dis- 
appointed candidates  went  through  the  forms  of  pledging  their  sin- 
cere support  to  the  successful  one.1  And  the  precarious  issue  of  the 
election  is  probably  to  be  attributed  to  the  discredit  which  the  Grant 
administration  had  incurred,  and  the  success  with  which  the  Demo- 
crat party  assayed  the  role  of  reform,  rather  than  to  defection  among 
the  Republican  leaders.  It  would  not  be  surprising,  however,  if  there 
were  a  chapter  of  inside  history,  of  a  somewhat  sensational  character, 
regarding  the  pre-inaugural  relations  between  the  party  standard 
bearer  and  the  party  chieftains.  Senator  Conkling  was  prevented 
by  illness  from  taking  the  part  in  the  campaign  that  had  been 
arranged.  What  passed  between  him  and  Mr.  Hayes  on  the  subject 
of  the  New  York  patronage  has  not  been  revealed;  but  the  recom- 
mendation of  Thomas  C.  Platt  of  that  State  to  be  Postmaster-General 
is  enough  to  incite  conjecture.2  It  was  a  forewarning  that  the  party 
organization  in  New  York  was  to  be  at  variance  with  the  National 
administration,  when  Conkling  refused  to  endorse  the  decision  of  the 
Electoral  Commission.8  Elaine's  defection  seems  also  to  have  had  its 
immediate  cause  in  failure  to  dictate  a  Cabinet  appointment ;  though 
the  Senator  from  Maine  had  other  grievances.  The  one  exception  to 
the  estrangement  between  Hayes  and  the  factions  is  found  in  his  rela- 

1  Foulke,  Life  of  Oliver  P.  Morton,  I,  402. 

2  Conkling,  Life  and  Letters  of  Roscoe  Conkling,  520. 
8  Boutwell,  Sixty  Years  of  Public  Affairs,  II,  264. 

221 


2.22  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

tions  with  Morton,  who  was  a  valued  adviser  during  the  campaign 
and  in  the  formation  of  the  Cabinet. 

The  support  of  the  Republican  candidate  by  the  Independents  was 
determined  by  Carl  Schurz,  lately  a  Senator  from  Missouri,  and  the 
acknowledged  leader  of  the  civil  service  reform  movement.  Hayes 
was  disposed  to  recognize  the  demands  of  this  movement,  and  it  was 
under  Mr.  Schurz's  advice  that  certain  steps  in  that  direction  were 
taken.  These  included  the  civil  service  reform  paragraph  in  the 
letter  of  acceptance,  and  the  refusal  to  become  a  candidate  for  a 
second  term  of  office,  an  observance  of  a  rule  advocated  in  the  plat- 
form of  the  Liberal  Republicans,  four  years  before,  and  believed  by 
them  to  be  necessary  to  purging  the  Departments  of  political  abuses. 
Mr.  Schurz  was  invited  to  make  suggestions  about  the  Cabinet; 
and  proposed  William  M.  Evarts  to  be  Secretary  of  State,  and  Ben- 
jamin F.  Bristow,  lately  of  the  Grant  administration,  to  be  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  Mr.  Evarts,  who  had  been  Attorney-General  under 
Johnson,  after  defending  him  on  his  impeachment,  was  now  an 
Independent,  and  inclined  towards  civil  service  reform  as  strongly 
as  any  prominent  man  in  New  York,  though  he  was  less  ardent  than 
Schurz.  Bristow's  attitude  towards  reform  had  been  fully  demon- 
strated by  his  career  in  the  Grant  Cabinet,  and  the  support  which 
he  commanded  in  the  Republican  National  Convention.  The  Presi- 
dent, however,  had  marked  Mr.  Schurz  himself  for  the  Cabinet,  and 
had  made  his  own  choice  for  the  Treasury,  in  the  person  of  Senator 
John  Sherman  of  Ohio.  On  the  score  of  ability  and  previous  train- 
ing, Mr.  Sherman  was  a  highly  eligible  candidate,  being  chairman 
of  the  Senate  Committee  of  Finance,  while  the  important  monetary 
questions  of  the  Grant  administration  were  under  consideration ; 
but  he  was  not  a  reformer.  Mr.  Schurz  was  given  a  choice  of  the 
Post-Office  and  Interior  Departments  and  took  the  latter.  These 
three  important  appointments  were  definitely  arranged  late  in  Feb- 
ruary, when  the  Electoral  Commission  began  to  give  signs  that  its 
findings  would  be  in  favor  of  the  Republican  party.* 

Besides  departing  from  the  rule  of  factional  representation,  this 

4  Sherman,  Recollections  of  Forty  Years  in  the  House,  Senate,  and  Cabinet, 
I,  561-563.  The  Reminiscences  of  Carl  Schurz,  III,  373-375- 


HAYES.  223 

Cabinet  affords  the  anomaly  of  going  outside  of  the  party  for  one 
of  its  members.  The  suggestion  that  the  Southern  member  should 
be  taken  from  the  ranks  of  the  Democrats  seems  to  have  emanated 
from  Mr.  Schurz ;  and  it  was  cordially  taken  up  by  the  President- 
elect as  an  earnest  of  his  determination  to  withdraw  the  remnants 
of  military  rule  from  the  South.  It  was  even  proposed  to  put  Gen- 
eral Joseph  E.  Johnson  at  the  head  of  the  War  Department;  but 
conference  with  military  men  showed  that  such  arrangement  would 
very  seriously  embarrass  the  relations  between  the  department  and 
the  army.  Accordingly  the  project  dwindled  to  making  David  M. 
Key  of  Tennessee  Postmaster-General.  Mr.  Key  had  served  in  the 
army  of  the  Confederacy  as  Lieutenant-Colonel ;  and  since  1875,  he 
had  been  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  on  the  Democrat 
side.  The  opposition  which  must  have  been  aroused  by  putting  the 
patronage  of  the  Post-Office  into  the  hands  of  a  Southern  Democrat 
was  forestalled,  in  a  measure,  by  an  arrangement  to  put  James  M. 
Tyner,  whom  political  considerations  had  marked  for  head  of  the 
Department  during  the  presidential  campaign,  into  the  first  as- 
sistantship.  The  Morton  influence  was  probably  present  in  this; 
though  that  Senator's  biographer  asserts  that  Key  himself  requested 
the  arrangement.  Morton  at  least  was  given  the  control  of  the 
Cabinet  appointment  from  Indiana,  with  a  suggestion  that  he  should 
accept  it  himself.  He,  however,  preferred  to  remain  in  the  Senate; 
and  merely  submitted  a  list  of  acceptable  names  from  which  Richard 
W.  Thompson  was  chosen  and  ultimately  assigned  to  the  Navy.5 

The  other  Western  appointment  was  that  of  George  W.  McCrary  of 
Iowa,  who  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  had  attracted  special  attention  by  introducing  the  resolution 
which  led  to  instituting  the  Electoral  Commission.  Considerable 
interest  attaches  to  the  determination  of  Mr.  McCrary's  portfolio. 
His  ambition  for  a  judicial  career  connected  his  name  with  the 
Department  of  Justice;  but  a  moral  disqualification  existed  in  his 
attitude  towards  the  McGarrahan  Claim,  which  was  still  unsettled. 
A  solution  was  proposed  in  a  temporary  exchange  of  portfolios 
between  Mr.  McCrary  and  the  member  from  New  England.  That 

8  Foulke,  Life  of  Oliver  P.  Morton,  II,  479,  480. 


2,24  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

this  person  should  be  General  Charles  Devens,  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Massachusetts,  had  been  determined  by  advising  with 
Senator  George  F.  Hoar.  This  would  have  made  Mr.  Devens  pro- 
visional Attorney-General  and  Mr.  McCrary  provisional  Secretary 
of  War ;  but  Judge  Devens,  though  willing  to  accept  either  office 
permanently,  refused  to  enter  into  a  temporary  arrangement,  upon 
the  ground  that  the  transfer  would  lead  to  surmises  that  his  judicial 
services  had  not  been  satisfactory.  Accordingly,  Mr.  McCrary  was 
constrained  to  accept  the  War  Department,  while  Mr.  Devens  became 
Head  of  the  Department  of  Justice.8 

The  selection  of  Judge  Devens  as  the  representative  of  New 
England  disaffected  Senator  Elaine,  whose  plans  contemplated  the 
placing  of  William  P.  Frye  of  Maine,  in  the  Cabinet.  To  this  Presi- 
dent Hayes  would  not  agree,  though  he  made  an  offer  to  Mr.  Hale, 
who  had  three  years  before  received  an  overture  from  President 
Grant.7  There  is  a  curious  letter  from  Mr.  Elaine,  written  soon 
after  the  inauguration,  in  which  he  denies  the  current  charges 
of  opposition  to  the  new  Cabinet ;  and  says  that  the  President  offered 
a  place  to  Mr.  Hale,  but  assigned  as  a  reason  for  not  taking  Mr. 
Frye  the  fact  that  he  did  not  know  him.8  A  very  large  number  of 
actual  Cabinet  officers  would  have  been  excluded  by  the  application 
of  this  rule. 

The  communication  of  the  Cabinet  list  to  the  Senate  aroused  that 
body  to  a  very  extraordinary  assertion  of  its  powers  of  obstruction. 
Herein  lay  the  means  of  redress  against  the  President's  independent 
course,  and  the  scanty  consideration  which  it  accorded  to  the  Sena- 
torial chiefs.  The  present  practice  of  referring  Cabinet  appointments 
to  Committees  was  not  established  at  this  time,  at  least  so  far  as 
incoming  administrations  were  concerned;  and,  had  it  been  so,  the 
rule  of  courtesy  which  ordinarily  exempts  the  Senate's  own  members 
from  such  reference,  would  have  been  applicable  to  two  of  these 
particular  nominations.  Accordingly  very  special  significance  at- 
taches to  the  steps  taken  in  confirming  this  Cabinet.  On  March  7, 

8  Hoar,  Autobiography  of  Seventy  Years,  II,  10. 

7  Hoar,  Autobiography  of  Seventy  Years,  II,  7. 

8  Gail  Hamilton,  Biography  of  James  G.  Blaine,  429. 


HAYES.  225 

the  nominations  being  delayed  until  that  date,  Senator  Morrill  of 
Vermont  introduced  a  motion  that  each  of  the  nominations,  those  of 
Sherman  and  Key  included,  be  referred  to  the  committee  corre- 
sponding to  the  department  in  question,  when  appointed;  and  the 
motion  promptly  passed. 

The  next  day,  the  clause  relating  to  Sherman  was  judiciously  re- 
considered, and  his  appointment  was  confirmed,  receiving  37  votes 
in  its  favor  to  n  against.  Two  days  after  the  original  motion,  it 
was  announced  that  the  committees  were  appointed,  and  that  the 
Cabinet  nominations  were  duly  referred.  One  day  more  sufficed  for 
the  committees  to  report  favorably,  and  the  votes  showed  practically 
no  opposition,  Schurz,  who  was  chief  of  the  Independents,  being 
confirmed  with  a  single  dissenting  voice,  while  Evarts  and  Key,  the 
one  an  Independent  and  the  other  a  Democrat,  each  received  two 
"  nays."  '  The  explanation  of  this  change  of  attitude  was  that  public 
opinion  had  interposed.  During  the  three  anxious  days,  mails  and 
telegraph  poured  inquiries  and  expressions  of  disapproval  into  the 
Capitol,  until  it  became  evident  that  the  country  would  not  support 
the  action  of  the  Senate. 

Although  the  Hayes  Cabinet  was  an  exceptionally  able  one,  it  was 
greatly  hampered  by  the  political  disagreement  between  the  Execu- 
tive and  Congress.  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  Democrats 
had  had  a  majority  since  the  middle  of  Grant's  second  term  of  office ; 
and  the  Republicans  did  not  recover  it  until  the  election  of  1880.  In 
the  Senate,  the  coming  of  a  Democrat  majority,  by  the  mid-term 
elections,  was  not  more  serious  than  the  estrangement  between  the 
President  and  the  factions.  Mr.  Elaine  was  out  of  sympathy  with 
President  Hayes's  Southern  policy ;  and  was  not  pleased  at  the  spec- 
tacle of  Mr.  Schurz  in  the  Cabinet.19  During  the  last  three  years  of 
the  administration  he  did  not  enter  the  White  House.  Between  Mr. 
Conkling  and  the  administration  there  was  a  memorable  war  over  the 
removal  of  the  three  leading  United  States  officials  at  the  port  of  New 
York;  when  the  substitution  of  Edwin  A.  Merritt  for  Chester  A. 
Arthur,  as  Collector  of  Customs,  was  accomplished  by  a  vacation  sus- 

8  Senate  Executive  Journal,  1877-1879,  3,  5,  6. 
10  Elaine,  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,  II,  595-597. 

15 


226  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

pension  under  the  Tenure-of-Office  Acts  of  1867  and  1869,  the  diffi- 
cult task  of  securing  the  assent  of  the  Senate,  being  achieved  largely 
through  the  strenuous  efforts  of  Secretary  Sherman.11  The  death  of 
Senator  Morton  shortly  after  the  inauguration,  put  an  end  to  support 
from  that  quarter. 

The  great  task  of  resuming  specie  payments  gave  the  Treasury 
Department  the  place  of  greatest  prominence.  Moreover,  Secretary 
Sherman's  political  seniority  over  his  chief  had  called  forth  the  pre- 
diction that  he  would  be  the  controlling  spirit  of  the  administration. 
But  the  issue  proved  that  President  Hayes  maintained  his  authority 
over  all  his  subordinates.  On  one  occasion,  in  fact,  he  overruled  his 
principal  secretary  within  his  own  department.  As  he  stated  in  an 
interview  which  he  granted  some  years  after  his  presidency,  he  had 
on  at  least  two  occasions  decided  and  carried  out  matters  against 
the  wishes  of  the  Head  of  the  Department  affected,  one  of  them 
being  Mr.  Sherman  whose  opinion  he  usually  valued.12  The  differ- 
ence referred  to  was  probably  with  reference  to  the  veto  of  the 
Bland-Allison  Bill  for  the  remonetization  of  silver,  passed  in 
1878.  Sherman  himself  says  of  this  matter  that  he  had  been  in 
communication  with  Senator  Allison  as  to  desirable  amendments 
upon  the  bill ;  and  believed  that  a  way  had  been  found  to  prevent  the 
dreaded  evils ;  therefore  he  did  not  sustain  the  President  in  his  veto, 
though  he  did  not  care  to  antagonize  his  decision.13  President  Hayes 
and  Secretary  Sherman  also  differed  on  the  important  question  of  re- 
tiring United  States  notes.  The  Annual  Message  of  1880,  and  the 
Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  transmitted  to  Congress  on 
the  same  day,  make  radically  different  suggestions  upon  this  sub- 
ject, this  being  one  of  the  few  cases  which  raise  the  question  whether 
the  President  has  the  same  authority  over  the  reports  from  the 
Treasury  as  he  has  over  those  from  the  other  Departments.14 

The  recognition  of  civil  service  reform  in  the  Cabinet  did  not  go 
far  enough  to  have  very  great  results.  Mr.  Schurz  would  have  had 

11  Burton,  John  Sherman,  290-296. 

12  Stevens,  Sources  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  167,  Footnote. 

13  Sherman,  Recollections  of  Forty  Years,  II,  623, 

14  Richardson,  Messages,  VII,  616;  Sherman,  Recollections,  II,  794. 


HAYES. 


227 


the  Treasury,  Interior,  and  Post-Office  Departments  all  rilled  by 
men  who  were  thorough  reformers ;  but  the  Interior,  over  which  he 
himself  presided,  was  the  only  one  where  a  consistent  effort  in  that 
direction  was  made.  He  remarked,  some  years  later  that  experience 
had  convinced  him  that  no  President,  however  firm  and  courageous 
he  might  be,  could  succeed  in  systematic  reform,  if  he  had  to  carry 
on  the  reform  against  his  own  Cabinet.  Inasmuch  as  Hayes  had 
declined  a  second  term  of  office,  Sherman  became  an  active  aspirant 
for  the  Presidency ;  and  did  not  escape  the  charge  of  using  the  vast 
patronage  of  the  Treasury  to  secure  the  nomination  in  1880.  In 
the  Post-Office,  Key  was  understood  to  have  reforming  inclinations ; 
but  they  were  of  little  account  with  Tyner  dispensing  the  Northern 
patronage.  The  division  of  authority  in  this  Department  worked 
badly;  and  probably  had  something  to  do  with  entailing  the  Star 
Route  scandals  upon  the  next  administration. 

The  recognition  of  the  political  South  amounted  to  nothing  more 
than  sentiment ;  and  when  Mr.  Key  retired  in  June,  1880,  to  accept 
a  District  Judgeship,  the  idea  was  abandoned.  Horace  Maynard, 
who  succeeded  him,  was  also  from  Tennessee;  but  had  previously 
been  in  the  Republican  ranks,  having  held  a  diplomatic  office  under 
President  Grant. 

Two  other  Departments  changed  hands.  Secretary  McCrary 
found  satisfaction  for  his  judicial  aspirations  in  a  Circuit  Judgeship, 
and  was  succeeded  in  the  War  Office  by  Alexander  Ramsay  of 
Minnesota.  Secretary  Thompson,  whose  naivete  in  matters  pertain- 
ing to  naval  armaments  had  afforded  some  amusement  among  his 
associates,  retired,  as  the  administration  was  nearing  its  end,  to 
become  Chairman  of  the  Panama  Canal  Commission.  President 
Hayes  offered  to  appoint  in  advance  the  man  whom  President-elect 
Garfield  had  selected  for  the  Navy;  but  inasmuch  as  the  incoming 
Cabinet  was  not  yet  determined  upon,  he  designated  Nathan  Goff 
of  West  Virginia  for  the  remnant  of  his  term. 

Notwithstanding  the  political  isolation  of  the  Hayes  administra- 
tion, it  was  doubtless  due  in  part  to  the  creditable  manner  in  which 
it  acquitted  itself  that  the  Republican  party  in  1880,  with  General 
James  A.  Garfield  for  its  presidential  candidate,  polled  a  larger  popu- 
lar vote  than  it  had  done  for  six  years. 


PRESIDENT. 
JAMES  A.  GARFIELD,  Ohio.     (Died  September  19,  1881.) 

VICE-  PRESIDENT. 
CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR,  New  York. 


March  4,  1881,  to  September  19,  1881. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS,  of  New  York ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  G.  ELAINE,  of  Maine,  March  5,  1881. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 
HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  of  Massachusetts  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  March 

4,  1881. 
WILLIAM  WINDOM,  of  Minnesota,  March  5,  1881. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

ALEXANDER  RAMSEY,  of  Minnesota;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN,  of  Illinois,  March  5,  1881. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

CHARLES  DEVENS,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WAYNE  MACVEAGH,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  5,  1881. 

SAMUEL   F.   PHILLIPS,   of   North   Carolina    (Solicitor-General),   ad   interim, 
March  7,  1881. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

HORACE  MAYNARD,  of  Tennessee;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
THOMAS  L.  JAMES,  of  New  York,  March  5,  1881. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

NATHAN  GOFF,  JR.,  of  West  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  H.  HUNT,  of  Louisiana,  March  5,  1881. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

CARL  SCHURZ,  of  Missouri;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
SAMUEL  J.  KIRKWOOD,  of  Iowa,  March  5,  1881. 


229 


GARFIELD. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Republicans  secured  the  House 
of  Representatives,  with  a  good  prospect  of  controlling  the  Senate, 
by  the  elections  of  1880,  the  factional  situation  rendered  the  problem 
of  forming  an  administration  that  could  command  the  support  of 
Congress  one  of  almost  unparalleled  difficulty.  The  lines  along 
which  President  Garfield  proceeded  were  determined,  to  a  great 
extent,  by  the  circumstances  which  brought  about  his  nomination. 
In  1880  the  hostility  between  Conkling  and  Blaine  continued  to 
divide  the  Republican  party.  However,  Mr.  Conkling,  instead  of 
confronting  Mr.  Blaine  in  the  Republican  Convention  as  a  personal 
candidate  for  presidential  honors,  overmatched  him  with  a  strong 
combination  that  supported  ex-President  Grant  for  a  third  term  of 
office,  the  balance  of  power  being  held  by  the  supporters  of  "  favorite 
sons/'  of  whom  the  strongest  was  Sherman.  After  long  and  tedious 
balloting,  the  Blaine  forces  combined  with  the  lesser  delegations  upon 
General  James  A.  Garfield  of  Ohio,  who  had  had  a  distinguished 
career  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  was  now  Senator-elect. 
The  Grant  or  Conkling  forces  stood  firm  throughout,  showing  on 
the  last  ballot  306  votes.  It  was  a  political  necessity  that  the  Vice- 
Presidential  candidate  should  represent  that  wing  of  the  party ;  and 
Chester  A.  Arthur,  who  had  been  prominent  in  New  York  politics 
as  Collector  of  Customs  at  New  York  City  and  Chairman  of  the 
Republican  State  Committee,  was  nominated  for  the  second  place 
on  the  ticket. 

The  problem  of  dealing  with  the  "  306,"  when  the  time  came  to 
form  the  Cabinet,  was  complicated  by  its  geographical  distribution, 
which  seriously  crossed  State  lines.  Even  New  York  had  not  stood 
solidly  for  General  Grant ;  for  the  Republican  party  was  distinctly 
divided  there  into  the  "  Regulars  "  or  "  Stalwarts,"  whom  Conkling 
commanded,  and  a  much  smaller  wing  of  "  Independents."  Further- 
more a  like  division  existed  in  the  States  of  Pennsylvania  and  Illi- 

231 


,232  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

nois,  the  Grant  forces  being  commanded  in  the  one  by  Don  Cameron, 
who  had  succeeded  to  his  father's  place  in  Keystone  politics,  and  in 
the  other  by  General  John  A.  Logan.  It  was  this  division  in  the 
State  delegations  to  the  Republican  National  Convention  that  caused 
the  memorable  controversy  over  the  "  unit  rule  " ;  in  which  Garfield, 
who  was  himself  delegate-at-large  from  Ohio,  scored  a  triumph 
over  Conkling,  and  Judge  William  H.  Robertson  of  New  York  came 
forward  as  leader  of  the  Independent  Republicans  in  Conkling's 
own  State. 

The  moment  that  the  Republican  triumph  was  assured,  the 
President-elect,  in  his  home  at  Mentor,  began  to  feel  the  pressure  of 
throngs  of  Cabinet  makers,  both  through  the  mails  and  by  personal 
visitation.  The  story  of  the  making  of  no  other  Cabinet  is  so 
dramatic.  And  it  would  seem  that  a  certain  cheapening  of  Cabinet 
office  in  the  popular  mind,  which  had  resulted  from  the  low  condition 
of  that  body  under  President  Grant,  asserted  itself  afresh,  as  the 
Independent  regime  of  President  Hayes  came  to  an  end.1  In  the 
midst  of  these  solicitations,  Mr.  Garfield  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  Pres- 
sure for  the  appointment  of  anybody  to  the  Cabinet  has  come  to  be, 
in  my  mind,  an  almost  insuperable  obstacle  in  that  direction." a  Still 
the  most  suitable  of  the  names  proposed  were  duly  considered,  and 
several  found  temporary  places  upon  the  Cabinet  slate.  The  plan  that 
Mr.  Garfield  adopted  had  two  parts ;  first,  to  give  the  highest  consid- 
eration to  that  wing  of  the  party  which  had  nominated  him,  and  from 
which  he  might  expect  a  consistent  support ;  second,  to  accord  to  the 
Grant  wing,  men  who  were  moderate  "  Regulars,"  but  were  not  the 
creatures  of  the  respective  "  Stalwart "  leaders.  Stated  in  geographi- 
cal terms,  the  plan  accorded  a  member  to  New  England,  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Illinois  respectively,  with  two  of  the  remaining 
portfolios  reserved  for  the  West  and  Northwest,  and  one  for  the 

xThe  only  first  hand  material  on  the  subject  that  has  been  published  is  the 
correspondence  between  Garfield  and  Elaine,  which  appears  in  Gail  Hamilton's 
Biography  of  the  latter.  However,  two  or  three  of  Garfield's  confidential 
friends  within  his  Congressional  District  are  reliable  authority  for  additional 
facts. 

2  Garfield  to  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  January  u,  1881. 


GARFIELD.  233 

South.3  Late  in  November,  1880,  the  President-elect,  while  on  a  visit 
to  Washington,  offered  the  State  portfolio  to  Mr.  Blaine,  which  was 
formally  accepted  about  three  weeks  later.  The  next  selection,  that 
of  Mr.  Wayne  MacVeagh  of  Pennsylvania  for  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eralship, was  hardly  less  significant,  for  Mr.  MacVeagh,  being  an 
Independent  and  a  Hayes  Republican,  was  as  far  from  supporting 
Blaine  as  he  was  from  supporting  Conkling;  and  notwithstanding 
his  political  heresy,  he  was  "persona  grata"  to  the  Pennsylvania 
"  Regulars,"  by  virtue  of  being  Simon  Cameron's  son-in-law.  A  for- 
tunate arrangement  was  also  made  for  the  representation  of  Illinois, 
in  that  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  son  of  the  martyred  President,  became 
Secretary  of  War.  Politically,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  followed  the  lead  of 
General  Logan  in  supporting  Grant,  but  sentiment  made  his  appoint- 
ment acceptable  to  all  factions. 

The  New  York  "  Stalwarts,"  under  Mr.  Conkling's  lead,  were  not 
so  easily  satisfied ;  and  forced  an  issue  with  the  President-elect  about 
the  filling  of  the  Treasury  Department,  which  it  is  hard  to  interpret 
in  any  other  light  than  as  a  special  precaution  for  the  control  of  the 
great  offices  at  the  port  of  New  York  for  which  they  had  unsuccess- 
fully contended  with  President  Hayes.  The  newspapers  have  re- 
cently published  a  distorted  account  of  the  attempt  to  make  Levi  P. 
Morton  Secretary  of  the  Treasury/  It  is  known,  however,  in  Mr. 
Garfield's  former  constituency,  that  there  was  such  an  attempt,  and 
that  it  began  before  the  election,  and  was  not  relinquished  until  the 
very  hour  of  the  inauguration.  Mr.  Garfield  considered  Mr.  Morton 
ineligible  to  the  Treasury  for  his  business  connections;  but  would 
have  assigned  him  a  different  portfolio,  had  that  gentleman's  promp- 
ters allowed  him  to  accept  it ;  as  is  was,  he  made  Morton  Minister  to 
France. 

Moreover,  having  resolved  to  place  the  Treasury  portfolio  outside 
of  Wall  Street,  but  not  necessarily  outside  of  New  York,  he  favor- 
ably considered  Charles  J.  Folger,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
that  State,  and  a  moderate  "  Regular  " ;  which  arrangement  failed  for 

8  Gail  Hamilton,  Biography  of  James  G.  Blaine,  490 ;  Blaine  to  Garfield, 
December  10,  1880. 
4  December,  1907. 


,234  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

the  reason  that  Judge  Folger  was  at  the  time  personally  interested 
in  a  claim  against  the  United  States.  At  one  time  it  occurred  to  Mr. 
Garfield  to  appoint  Senator  Conkling  himself  to  the  Treasury  De- 
partment. But  there  was  reason  to  fear  that  the  discord  which  must 
have  resulted  would  defy  all  the  conciliating  forces  that  could  be 
brought  to  bear ;  and  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  the  proposition  was 
discussed  for  any  other  than  its  psychological  interest.6  The  ultimate 
arrangement  for  the  representation  of  the  Empire  State,  was  the  ap- 
pointment of  Thomas  L.  James  to  be  Postmaster-General.  Mr.  James 
was  a  "  Stalwart,"  having  held  under  the  Conkling  regime  .the  office 
of  Postmaster  of  New  York  City,  in  which  he  had  shown  adminis- 
trative ability  of  a  high  order. 

Additional  difficulties  attended  the  filling  of  the  Treasury.  The 
efficient  administration  of  Mr.  Sherman,  during  the  "  resumption  " 
period,  raised  the  question  of  his  retention ;  but  such  an  arrangement 
would  have  entailed  political  embarrassments,  and  discrimination 
among  the  members  of  the  retiring  Cabinet  seemed  undesirable. 
Moreover,  Mr.  Sherman  himself  preferred  to  return  to  the  Senate.3 
There  was,  furthermore,  a  feeling  that  the  agricultural,  rather  than 
the  manufacturing  or  commercial  part  of  the  country,  should  on  this 
occasion  furnish  the  Minister  of  Finance.  And  considerations  of 
locality,  combined  with  those  of  fitness,  pointed  to  William  B.  Alli- 
son, Senator  from  Iowa,  and  William  Windom,  Senator  from 
Minnesota,  both  of  whom  had  been  prominent  members  of  Congres- 
sional committees  corresponding  to  the  Treasury  Department.7  In- 
asmuch as  it  was  thought  that  Mr.  Allison  would  be  the  more  willing 
of  the  two  to  leave  the  Senate,  the  first  offer  was  made  to  him.  But 
the  result  proved  the  contrary.  Furthermore,  Mr.  Allison  was  pre- 
vented by  domestic  considerations  from  undertaking  the  social  re- 
sponsibilities of  a  Cabinet  officer.  Accordingly,  Mr.  Windom  became 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

The  selection  of  a  suitable  representative  of  the  South  was  also 
a  difficult  matter,  because  of  the  lack  of  representative  Republicans 

B  Gail  Hamilton,  Biography  of  James  G.  Elaine,  497. 
8  Sherman,  Recollections  of  Forty  Years,  II,  802. 
1  Gail  Hamilton,  Biography  of  James  G.  Elaine,  495. 


GARFIELD.  235 

in  that  section  of  the  country.  Late  in  January,  Mr.  Garfield  jocosely 
wrote  to  his  prospective  Secretary  of  State :  "  The  Southern  member 
still  eludes  me,  as  Creusa's  image  eluded  Aeneas.  One  by  one,  the 
Southern  roses  fade.  Do  you  know  of  a  magnolia  blossom  that  will 
stand  our  Northern  climate  ?  "  The  problem  was  finally  solved  by  ap- 
pointing William  H.  Hunt  of  Louisiana,  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
A  Secretary  of  the  Interior  was  found  in  Senator  Samuel  J.  Kirk- 
wood  of  Iowa.  That  the  incoming  Cabinet  was  less  able  than  the  re- 
tiring one  was  generally  admitted ;  but  it  was  received  on  the  whole 
with  expressions  of  approval. 

It  was  one  of  those  Cabinets  in  which  the  Secretary  of  State  was 
conspicuously  superior  to  all  of  his  colleagues  by  virtue  of  ability 
and  previous  experience.  There  was  a  preconceived  opinion,  more- 
over, which  might  be  paralleled  with  the  cases  of  Lincoln  and  Seward, 
and  Hayes  and  Sherman,  that  the  Secretary  would  be  President  de 
facto.  In  fact  there  is  an  impression,  fastened  upon  the  reading 
public  by  the  Nation,  which  has  taken  its  inspiration  entirely  from 
"  Stalwart "  sources,  that  such  was  actually  the  case.  Moreover,  the 
Elaine  publications  carry  a  similar  impression,  though  from  a  differ- 
ent motive.8  The  late  Senator  Hoar  is  perhaps  the  only  prominent 
man  who  has  distinctly  asserted  that  President  Garfield  would  have 
shown  himself  master  of  his  own  administration,  had  the  public  had 
time  to  find  him  out ;  but  he  is  also  the  only  one  free  from  prejudices, 
and  in  possession  of  inside  information,  who  has  written  upon  the 
subject.9 

Mr.  Elaine  had  had  the  longer  and  more  varied  public  experience. 
Moreover,  when  his  supporters  turned  to  Garfield,  he  at  once 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  new  leader  with  an  eagerness  that  went 
rather  more  than  half  way  in  making  him  a  confidential  adviser 
during  the  months  that  preceded  the  election  and  the  inauguration.10 
Mr.  Garfield,  however,  by  no  means  lacked  knowledge  of  public  men, 
and  was  fully  aware  of  Mr.  Elaine's  weaknesses.  In  1876,  he  had 

8  Stanwood,  James  G.  Elaine,  238. 

9  Hoar,  Autobiography  of  Seventy  Years,  I,  399,  400. 

iaGail  Hamilton,  Biography  of  James  G.  Elaine,  500;  Elaine  to  Garfield, 
January  28;  February  5,  1881. 


236  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

preferred  him  for  the  presidency  before  Conkling  and  Morton,  but 
after  Bristow.u  Moreover,  he  had  written  of  Blaine  only  two  years 
before  his  own  elevation  to  the  Presidency :  "  Though  I  have  long 
been  warmly  his  friend,  I  have  not  been  blind  to  his  faults,  which  it 
seems  to  me,  are  growing  rather  than  decreasing.  He  seems  to  have 
undoubted  faith  in  management,  while  I  have  but  little,  and  I  think 
his  mind  is  warped  by  the  constant  pressure  of  the  presidential  idea 
upon  him." 3 

In  considering  Mr.  Elaine's  influence  over  Mr.  Garfield's  admin- 
istration, it  should  be  noticed  that  Mr.  Garfield  had  surrounded  him- 
self with  a  "  coalition  "  Cabinet,  in  fact  one  that  was  as  truly  such 
as  Lincoln's,  though  by  no  means  composed  of  such  great  personali- 
ties. The  presence  of  two  Grant  men  at  the  council  table  assured 
the  existence  of  an  anti-Blaine  element ;  furthermore,  the  Secretary 
of  State  had  promptly  found  a  strong  counterpoise  in  the  Attorney- 
General.13  And  it  is  known  that  in  one  important  appointment  Gar- 
field  supported  MacVeagh  over  Blaine.  A  Cabinet  of  this  type  could 
hardly  have  been  dominated  by  any  of  its  members,  and  have  held 
together. 

The  most  striking  of  President  Garfield's  acts  which  has  been 
ascribed  to  Secretarial  influence  was  the  change  in  the  office  of  col- 
lector at  the  port  of  New  York,  whereby  William  H.  Robertson,  a 
leader  of  the  Independents,  superseded  Edwin  A.  Merritt,  whom 
President  Hayes  had  appointed  in  the  face  of  Senatorial  opposition. 
The  contemporary  "  Stalwart "  version  of  this  matter,  as  stated  by 
General  Grant,  was  that  this  was  the  continuation  of  an  attempt  to 
ruin  Senator  Conkling,  that  had  been  begun  by  President  Hayes; 
and  that  it  would  not  have  occurred,  if  Mr.  Blaine  had  not  been  in 
the  Cabinet."  A  recent  "  Stalwart "  writer,  however,  takes  the 
ground  that  the  appointment  was  not  Mr.  Elaine's  act  at  all,  but 
an  impulsive  turn  on  President  Garfield's  part,  that  he  took  because 
a  list  of  appointments  made  a  day  or  two  before,  and  more  acceptable 

"Garfield  to  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  April  4,  1876. 
"Idem,  January  30,  1879. 

13  Stanwood,  James  G.  Blaine,  238. 

14  Contemporary  Newspapers  on  Interview  with  General  Grant  at  Chicago. 


GARFIELD.  237 

to  Mr.  Conkling,  had  called  forth  criticism  from  a  different  quarter.11 
The  two  versions  are  equally  in  error.  Mr.  Garfield  had  decided,  not 
impulsively  but  after  long  deliberation,  to  give  conspicuous  recogni- 
tion to  the  New  York  Independents,  and  he  had  singled  out  Mr. 
Robertson  for  his  stand  against  the  "  unit  rule." la  One  of  his  advisers 
in  the  matter  had  been  Judge  Folger,  who  approved  the  appointment. 
That  Mr.  Garfield  had  always  regarded  the  prevalent  dictation  of  Na- 
tional appointments  by  Senators  with  disfavor,  was  proven  by  his  pre- 
vious career.  The  appointment  was  not  Mr.  Elaine's.  He  had  been  in- 
vited into  the  administration,  under  the  express  declaration  by  Mr, 
Garfield  that  it  was  not  to  be  made  any  man's  battle-ground 
for  the  next.  And  the  only  way  in  which  he  could  have  shared 
in  the  Robertson  appointment,  was  in  exerting  an  influence  as  to  the 
time  when  the  nomination  was  made."  The  fact  that  Postmaster- 
General  James  did  not  go  with  the  two  New  York  Senators  in  re- 
signing, although  he  had  joined  with  them  and  Vice-President 
Arthur  in  a  protest  against  the  appointment,18  bespeaks  Mr.  Garfield's 
influence. 

President  Garfield's  long  illness,  extending  from  July  2  to  Septem- 
ber 19,  1 88 1,  threw  the  Executive  into  a  situation  that  there  was  no 
precedent  for  dealing  with.  The  question  was  raised,  whether  it 
was  not  an  occasion  for  the  Vice-President  to  assume  the  direction 
of  the  Government.  Moreover,  the  President,  who  was  much  of  the 
time  apprized  of  the  course  of  public  affairs,  was  fully  competent 
to  delegate  extraordinary  functions  to  his  Secretary  of  State,  had  he 
desired  to  do  so ;  which  arrangement  would  have  been  better  in  keep- 
ing with  the  trend  of  Executive  development  than  a  resort  to  the 
more  Constitutional  expedient.  There  was  abundant  willingness  on 
Mr.  Elaine's  part ;  but  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  unwilling. 
A  few  precedents  might  have  been  unearthed  out  of  Washington's 
administration  for  the  Cabinet  to  deliberate  without  the  President's 
attendance.  The  actual  course  of  events  was  a  Government  by 

"Boutwell,  Sixty  Years  of  Public  Affairs,  II,  273,  274. 

16  Garfield  to  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  April  14,  1881. 

17  Mrs.  James  G.  Elaine,  Letters,  I,  197,  March  24,  1881. 

18  Conkling,  Life  and  Letters  of  Roscoe  Conkling,  640. 


,238  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Departments,  each  head  of  necessity  assuming  an  extraordinary 
discretion.  The  fact  that  Congress  was  not  in  session,  made  this 
arrangement  the  more  satisfactory.  The  collegiate  Cabinet  was  prac- 
tically suspended,  unless  it  were  for  ceremonial  purposes.  In  that 
character  and  no  other,  did  the  Secretary  of  State  hold  the 
precedence. 


PRESIDENT. 

CHESTER  A.  ARTHUR,  New  York. 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 

THOMAS  F.  BAYARD,  Delaware. 

DAVID  DAVIS,  Illinois. 

GEORGE  F.  EDMONDS,  Vermont. 


September  20,  1881,  to  March  4,  1885. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

JAMES  G.  ELAINE,  of  Maine;  continued  from  Garfield's  Administration. 
FREDERICK  T.  FRELINGHUYSEN,  of  New  Jersey,  December  12,  1881. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

WILLIAM  WINDOM,  of  Minnesota ;  continued  from  Garfield's  Administration. 

CHARLES  J.  FOLGER,  of  New  York,  October  27,  1881. 

CHARLES  E.  COQN,  of  New  York  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  Septem- 
ber 4,  1884. 

HENRY  F.  FRENCH,,  of  Massachusetts  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim, 
September  8,  1884. 

CHARLES  E.  COON,  of  New  York  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  September 
15,  1884. 

WALTER  Q.  GRESHAM,  of  Indiana,  September  24,  1884.  «_* 

HUGH  McCuLLOCH,  of  Indiana,  October  28,  1884. 

HENRY  F.  FRENCH,  of  Massachusetts  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim, 
October  29,  1884. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN,   of  Illinois;   continued   from  Garfield's   Administration. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

WAYNE  MACVEAGH,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  Garfield's  Adminis- 
tration. 

SAMUEL  F.  PHILLIPS,  of  North  Carolina  (Solicitor-General),  ad  interim, 
November  12,  1881. 

BENJAMIN  H.  BREWSTER,  of  Pennsylvania,  December  19,  1881. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

THOMAS  L.  JAMES,  of  New  York;  continued  from  Garfield's  Administration. 
THOMAS  L.  JAMES,  of  New  York,  recommissioned  October  27,  1881. 
TIMOTHY  O.  HOWE,  of  Wisconsin,  December  20,  1881. 
FRANK  HATTON,  of  Iowa   (First  Assistant  Postmaster-General),  ad  interim, 

March  26,  1883. 

WALTER  Q.  GRESHAM,  of  Indiana,  April  3,  1883. 
FRANK  HATTON,  of  Iowa   (First  Assistant  Postmaster-General),  ad  interim, 

September  25,  1884. 
FRANK  HATTON,  of  Iowa,  October  14,  1884. 

SECRETARY  OF  IHE  NAVY. 

WILLIAM  H.  HUNT,  of  Louisiana;  continued  from  Garfield's  Administration. 
WILLIAM  E.  CHANDLER,  of  New  Hampshire,  April  12,  1882. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

SAMUEL  J.  KIRKWOOD,  of  Iowa;  continued  from  Garfield's  Administration. 
HENRY  M.  TELLER,  of  Colorado,  April  6,  1882. 

239 


ARTHUR. 

President  Arthur's  course  in  establishing  his  administration  is 
somewhat  of  an  enigma;  though  perhaps  the  political  situation  at 
President  Garfield's  death  affords  a  sufficient  clew  to  its  solution. 
The  doctrine  of  a  personal  right  on  the  President's  part  to  select 
his  own  advisers,  which  had  been  rather  strengthened  than  otherwise 
by  the  events  attendant  upon  the  impeachment  of  Johnson,  afforded 
sufficient  ground  for  the  country  to  expect  a  change  of  Cabinet. 
But  the  hostility  between  the  party  factions,  which  had  now  changed 
places,  was  a  yet  stronger  reason.  The  newspapers  represented  the 
new  President  as  being  constantly  surrounded  by  the  "  Stalwart " 
chiefs ;  and  it  was  a  common  prediction  that  Conkling,  now  a  private 
citizen,  would  receive  a  prominent  appointment.  On  September  22, 
1881,  the  Garfield  Cabinet  tendered  their  resignations ;  and  President 
Arthur  accepted  them  to  take  effect  some  time  after  the  next  regular 
meeting  of  Congress.  It  was  the  middle  of  April,  1882,  however, 
before  the  changes  were  completed;  and  no  entirely  new  slate  was 
at  any  time  presented,  though  the  portfolios  changed  hands  singly, 
until  only  Secretary  Lincoln  of  the  War  Department  remained. 
Towards  the  close  of  October,  1881,  Secretary  Windom,  not  waiting 
to  transmit  his  Annual  Report  to  Congress,  as  the  President  desired 
of  the  retiring  officers,  vacated  the  Treasury  Department,  hoping 
to  return  to  the  Senate.  President  Arthur  first  nominated  as  Mr. 
Windom's  successor  ex-Governor  Edwin  D.  Morgan  of  New  York. 
Rumors  were  rife,  however,  that  the  choice  was  only  temporary  and 
that  the  portfolio  was  being  reserved  for  Conkling  himself.  Mr. 
Morgan  belonged  to  the  "  Stalwart "  wing  of  the  party ;  but  was  a 
somewhat  antiquated  figure,  having  received  his  first  offer  of  the 
Treasury  from  Lincoln  at  the  time  of  Fessenden's  retirement. 
Furthermore,  his  business  connections  were  called  in  question,  while 
his  name  was  before  the  Senate.  He  was  confirmed,  however,  but 
declined  the  office.  Accordingly,  Judge  Charles  J.  Folger  became 
16  241 


242  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  disqualification  which  existed  when 
President  Garfield  tendered  that  post  to  him,  being  now  removed. 

This  appointment  seems  to  mark  a  withdrawal  on  President 
Arthur's  part  from  Conkling's  influence.  A  few  weeks  later,  Feb- 
ruary 21,  1882,  he  honored  his  former  chief  with  the  offer  of  an 
appointment  to  the  Supreme  Bench  of  the  United  States;1  but  in 
making  up  his  official  household,  he  determined  upon  a  middle  course, 
so  far  as  outward  indications  show.  In  November,  Attorney-General 
MacVeagh  retired;  and  was  succeeded  by  Benjamin  H.  Brewster, 
who  was,  like  his  predecessor,  a  Pennsylvania  lawyer.  In  December, 
Secretary  Elaine  was  permitted  to  retire,  and  was  succeeded  by  ex- 
Senator  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey.  Neither  of 
these  appointments  had  any  particular  bearing  upon  the  factional 
situation.  Postmaster-General  James2  retired  a  few  weeks  after 
Mr.  Blaine,  and  was  succeeded  by  ex-Senator  Timothy  O.  Howe 
of  Wisconsin,  who  was  a  Grant  man.  Secretaries  Kirkwood  and 
Hunt  retained  their  positions  until  the  following  April,  when  Sena- 
tor Henry  M.  Teller  of  Colorado  became  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
and  William  E.  Chandler  of  New  Hampshire,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
the  latter  being  a  Blaine  man.3 

The  Arthur  Cabinet  was  one  of  only  moderate  ability;  moreover, 
its  personnel  shifted  much,  though  the  changes  were  confined  to  the 
Treasury  and  Post-Office  Departments.  Postmaster-General  Howe 
retired  in  April,  1883 ;  and  was  succeeded  by  Walter  Q.  Gresham  of 
Indiana,  who  was  not  a  great  Cabinet  officer,  but  was  quite  unique 
for  the  fact  that  after  holding  two  portfolios  in  a  Republican  admin- 
istration, he  appeared  at  the  head  of  a  Democrat  Cabinet.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1884,  Secretary  Folger  died  in  office ;  whereupon  Mr.  Gres- 
ham was  transferred  to  the  Treasury,  and  Frank  Hatton  of  Iowa, 
previously  First  Assistant  Postmaster-General  became  the  Head  of 

1  Conkling,  Life  and  Letters  of  Roscoe  Conkling,  676. 

2  Postmaster-General  James  had  been  recommissioned  a  little  more  than  a 
month  after  President  Arthur's  accession  pursuant  to  an  Act  of  June,  1872, 
which  limited  the  tenure  of  the  Postmaster-General  to  the  term  of  the  Presi- 
dent appointing  him  and  30  days  thereafter. 

3  Autobiography  of  Thomas  Collier  Plait,  180. 


ARTHUR.  243 

the  Department.  A  month  later,  Mr.  Gresham  quitted  the  Cabinet 
to  accept  a  Circuit  Judgeship ;  and  Hugh  McCulloch  of  Indiana,  who 
had  been  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  Lincoln  and  Johnson,  was 
called  to  that  office. 

The  probable  explanation  of  Mr.  Arthur's  failure  to  set  up  a 
Conkling  regime  is  found  in  the  discrediting  of  the  ex-Senator  by 
the  New  York  Legislature.  Fortune  was  not  likely  to  favor  the 
"  Stalwarts  "  at  the  next  presidential  election ;  and  Mr.  Arthur,  like 
every  other  of  the  accidental  Presidents,  was  a  candidate  for  another 
term  of  office.  On  the  other  hand,  any  serious  alliance  with  the 
Elaine  faction  was  scarcely  possible,  although  Mr.  Elaine  would 
probably  have  continued  in  the  State  Department,  had  it  been  de- 
sired. The  apparent  object  of  Mr.  Arthur's  course  was  to  build  up 
a  third  faction  by  drawing  followers  from  the  other  two;  but  this 
he  was  not  a  sufficiently  forceful  man  to  accomplish. 


PRESIDENT. 
GROVER  CLEVELAND,  New  York. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
THOMAS  A.  HENDRICKS,  Indiana.     (Died  November  25,  1885.) 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
JOHN  SHERMAN,  Ohio. 
JOHN  J.  INGALLS,  Kansas. 


March  4,  1885,  to  March  4,  1889. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

FREDERICK  T.  FRELINGHUYSEN,  of  New  Jersey;  continued  from  last  Admin- 
istration. 
THOMAS  F.  BAYARD,  of  Delaware,  March  6,  1885. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

HUGH  McCuLLOcH,  of  Indiana;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
DANIEL  MANNING,  of  New  York,  March  6,  1885. 
CHARLES  S.  FAIRCHILD,  of  New  York,  April  i,  1887. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN,  of  Illinois ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  C  ENDICOTT,  of  Massachusetts,  March  6,  1885. 

ATTORNEY- GENERAL. 

BENJAMIN  H.  BREWSTER,  of  Pennsylvania ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
AUGUSTUS  H.  GARLAND,  of  Arkansas,  March  6,  1885. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

FRANK  HATTON,  of  Iowa ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  F.  VILAS,  of  Wisconsin,  March  6,  1885. 
DON  M.  DICKINSON,  of  Michigan,  January  16,  1888. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

WILLIAM  E.  CHANDLER,  of  New  Hampshire;  continued  from  last  Adminis- 
tration. 
WILLIAM  C.  WHITNEY,  of  New  York,  March  6,  1885. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

Lucius  Q.  C.  LAMAR,  of  Mississippi,  March  6,  1885. 
HENRY  L.  MULDROW,  of  Mississippi  (First  Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim, 

January  10,  1888. 
WILLIAM  F.  VILAS,  of  Wisconsin,  January  16,  1888. 

SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE. 
NORMAN  J.  COLEMAN,  of  Missouri,  February  13,  1889. 

245 


CLEVELAND. 

President  Grover  Cleveland  introduced  an  important  improve- 
ment into  the  methods  of  Cabinet  making  by  persistently  violating 
the  rule  against  the  double  representation  of  a  State.  For,  although 
his  own  Cabinets  were  not  superior  or  even  equal  to  some  that  had 
been  formed  under  the  strictest  geographical  rules,  later  Presidents 
have  secured  greater  fitness  in  their  Heads  of  Departments  by  the  sub- 
ordination of  locality  to  other  considerations.  Furthermore,  the  re- 
turn of  the  Democrat  party  to  power  restored  to  the  Southern  States 
the  representation  in  the  Executive  councils  which  they  had  enjoyed 
before  the  breaking  up  of  the  Buchanan  Administration  on  the  eve 
of  the  Civil  War.  President  Cleveland's  Cabinet  appointments  were 
as  follows :  Senator  Thomas  F.  Bayard  of  Delaware,  Secretary  of 
State;  Daniel  Manning  of  New  York,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury; 
Judge  William  C.  Endicott  of  Massachusetts,  Secretary  of  War; 
Senator  Augustus  H.  Garland  of  Arkansas,  Attorney-General ;  Wil- 
liam F.  Vilas  of  Wisconsin,  Postmaster-General ;  William  C.  Whit- 
ney of  New  York,  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  and,  Senator  Lucius  Q.  C. 
Lamar  of  Mississippi,  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  Manning  and 
Whitney,  the  two  members  from  New  York,  both  of  whom  were 
business  men,  were  personal  friends  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  and  had  had 
much  to  do  with  securing  his  nomination  for  the  Presidency.  Mr. 
Vilas  was  the  recognized  leader  of  the  Democrat  party  within  his 
State ;  and  seems  to  have  attracted  Mr.  Cleveland's  attention  by  his 
part  in  the  Democrat  National  Convention  of  1884.  On  the  whole 
political  services  received  a  more  than  ordinary  recognition  in  form- 
ing the  administration.  However,  the  selection  of  three  Senators, 
two  of  whom,  Messrs.  Bayard  and  Lamar,  had  been  conspicuous 
among  members  of  their  party  in  Congress,  was  favorable  to  the 
desired  intimacy  between  Executive  and  Legislature.  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that  the  confirmation  of  the  Cabinet  was  delayed  a  day,  by  an 
objection  to  Mr.  Bayard  on  the  part  of  a  Democrat  Senator  from 

247 


,248  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Virginia,  who  made  the  charge  that  the  proposed  Secretary  of  State 
had  more  sympathy  with  England  than  with  the  United  States,  and 
hence  ought  not  to  be  entrusted  with  the  foreign  policy  of  the 
country.1 

The  Cabinet  was  enlarged  during  this  administration  by  the  crea- 
tion of  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  A  minor  office  bearing  that 
name  had  been  established  by  act  of  May  15,  1862,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  Commissioner  of  Agriculture.  The  duties  of  this  officer 
were  to  distribute  useful  information  concerning  agriculture ;  also 
to  propagate  and  distribute  new  plants  and  seeds.  A  very  general 
demand  had  arisen,  however,  among  the  farmers  of  the  country  for 
a  more  substantial  organization,  and  in  response  to  repeated  resolu- 
tions from  agricultural  societies,  Congress  passed  an  act,  February 
9,  1889,  to  "  enlarge  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  and  to  create  an  Executive  Department  to  be  known  as 
the  Department  of  Agriculture."  A  Secretary  and  an  Assistant 
Secretary  were  provided  for  who  should  receive  the  same  salaries 
as  were  paid  to  the  Heads  and  Assistants  in  the  other  Executive 
Departments.  The  duties  were  continued  as  under  the  earlier  office. 
The  first  incumbent  of  this  Department  was  Norman  J.  Coleman  of 
Missouri.  It  was  not  until  McKinley's  administration,  when  it  re- 
ceived an  eminently  vigorous  head,  that  it  acquired  sufficient  im- 
portance to  justify  its  creation. 

Changes  in  the  Cabinet  personnel  were  caused  by  the  retirement  cf 
Secretary  Manning,  because  of  ill  health,  and  the  appointment  of 
Secretary  Lamar  to  an  Associate  Judgeship  in  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.  The  vacancy  in  the  Treasury  Department  was 
filled  by  the  promotion  of  Charles  S.  Fairchild,  of  New  York,  whom 
Secretary  Manning  had  chosen  as  First  Assistant,  and  who  had  been 
the  virtual  head  for  some  time.  The  Interior  Department  was 
filled  by  the  transfer  of  Postmaster-General  Vilas,  to  whose  former 
place  Don  M.  Dickinson  of  Michigan  was  appointed. 

If  the  Executive  relations  of  this  administration  differed  con- 
spicuously from  the  normal  order,  the  fact  has  not  been  revealed. 
Perhaps  Mr.  Cleveland  had  less  intercourse  with  members  of  Con- 

1  New  York  Times,  March  6,  1885. 


CLEVELAND. 


249 


gress  than  many  Presidents  because  of  his  lack  of  previous  con- 
nection with  the  National  Government,  and  his  independent  stand. 
In  the  Executive  he  was  doubtless  the  controlling  force.  It  has  been 
affirmed  by  one  of  the  politician  editors,  who  had  the  entree  to  the 
White  House,  that  President  Cleveland's  Cabinet  officers  were 
simply  advisory  as  to  the  direction  of  their  Departments  and  that 
every  question  of  importance  came  to  him  for  final  decision.* 

This  administration  affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the  fact  that 
there  is  no  power  to  unify  the  policies  of  Cabinet  officers,  under  the 
American  system,  below  the  President.  Incidentally  to  the  negotia- 
tions with  England,  respecting  the  North-Eastern  and  Behring 
Sea  fisheries,  Mr.  Manning,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  issued 
orders  which  were  distinctly  at  variance  with  those  of  Mr.  Bayard, 
the  Secretary  of  State;  whereupon  President  Cleveland  asserted 
what  policy  should  be  enforced.8  On  the  whole,  this  Cabinet  was  not 
a  brilliant  one ;  but  it  seems  to  have  been  harmonious  and  loyal  to  its 
chief. 

2  A.  K.  McClure,  Our  Presidents  and  How  We  Make  Them,  334. 
8  House  Executive  Documents,  XX;  Hart,  Practical  Essays,  129. 


PRESIDENT. 
BENJAMIN  HARRISON,  Indiana. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
LEVI  P.  MORTON,  New  York. 


March  4,  1889,  to  March  4,  1893. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
THOMAS  F.  BAYARD,  of  Delaware;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  G.  ELAINE,  of  Maine,  March  5,  1889. 
WILLIAM  F.  WHARTON,  of  Massachusetts  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim, 

June  5,  1892. 

JOHN  W.  FOSTER,  of  Indiana,  June  29,  1892. 
WILLIAM  F.  WHARTON,  of  Massachusetts   (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim, 

February  23,  1893. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

CHARLES  S.  FAIRCHILD,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  WINDOM,  of  Minnesota,  March  5,  1889. 
ALLURED   B.    NETTLETON,   of   Minnesota    (Assistant   Secretary),   ad   interim, 

January  30,  1891. 
CHARLES  FOSTER,  of  Ohio,  February  24,  1891. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

WILLIAM  C.  ENDICOTT,  of  Massachusetts ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
REDFIELD  PROCTOR,  of  Vermont,  March  5,  1889. 
LEWIS  A.  GRANT,  of  Minnesota  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  December 

6,  1891. 
STEPHEN  B.  ELKINS,  of  West  Virginia,  December  22,  1891. 

ATTORNEY- GENERAL. 

AUGUSTUS  H.  GARLAND,  of  Arkansas;   continued  from  last  Administration. 
WILLIAM  H.  H.  MILLER,  of  Indiana,  March  5,  1889. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

DON  M.  DICKINSON,  of  Michigan ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  WANAMAKER,  of  Pennsylvania,  March  5,  1889. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

WILLIAM  C.  WHITNEY,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
BENJAMIN  F.  TRACY,  of  New  York,  March  5,  1889. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

WILLIAM  F.  VILAS,  of  Wisconsin ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  W.  NOBLE,  of  Missouri,  March  5,  1889. 

SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

NORMAN  J.  COLEMAN,  of  Missouri ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JEREMIAH  M.  RUSK,  of  Wisconsin,  March  5,  1889. 

251 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 

President  Benjamin  Harrison  repeated  the  Garfield  Cabinet  in  the 
two  most  conspicuous  Departments ;  which  fact  was  probably  due  to 
the  partial  survival  of  the  same  conditions  within  the  Republican 
party  as  had  existed  eight  years  before.  Mr.  Elaine,  after  being 
defeated  by  Mr.  Cleveland  in  1884,  had  not  seriously  stood  for  the 
Presidential  nomination  in  1888 ;  but  neither  had  he  ceased  to  be  the 
dictator  of  the  largest  faction  in  the  party.  This  fact  added  to  his 
personal  qualifications  attracted  President  Harrison  to  him  as  the 
most  eligible  head  for  the  State  Department.  Furthermore,  it 
seemed  expedient  to  award  the  Treasury  portfolio  to  the  West ;  and 
Mr.  Windom  was  again  the  most  obvious  candidate  after  eliminat- 
ing Sherman  and  Allison.  Once  more  the  New  York  appointment 
had  an  inside  history  that  is  not  yet  disclosed  in  its  details.  The  so- 
called  "  promise  "  of  the  Treasury  to  Levi  P.  Morton  in  1881  was 
echoed  in  a  claim  that  a  like  pledge  was  now  given  to  Thomas  C. 
Platt.  The  late  Senator  has  declared  that  Mr.  Harrison  gave  such 
a  promise  in  writing,  without  producing  the  document,  however.1  A 
very  plausible  interpretation  of  both  "  promises  "  is  that  the  New 
York  dictators  told  a  North- Western  President-elect  what  was  ex- 
pected of  him,  beyond  his  power  to  assert  his  independence  on  every 
occasion.  At  the  last  moment,  Benjamin  F.  Tracy  was  permitted  to 
accept  the  Navy,  which  Mr.  Morton  had  been  forbidden  to  do.  The 
War  Office  was  assigned  to  ex-Governor  Redfield  Proctor  of  Ver- 
mont, who  had  been  a  prominent  supporter  of  General  Harrison  in 
the  Republican  National  Convention ;  Mr.  Proctor's  associations  with 
Senator  Edmunds,  moreover,  marked  him  as  an  anti-Blaine  man.  A 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  was  found  in  John  W.  Noble  of  Missouri,  a 
lawyer,  who  was  unknown  outside  of  his  State,  and  was  probably  rec- 
ommended by  considerations  of  locality,  and  his  previous  acquain- 

1  Thomas  Collier  Platt,  Autobiography,  218. 

253 


254  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

tance  with  President  Harrison.  The  Department  of  Agriculture 
was  assigned  to  ex-Governor  Jeremiah  Rusk  of  Wisconsin,  who  had 
been  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  had  acquired 
some  reputation  in  his  gubernatorial  office.  The  appointment  which 
aroused  the  most  unfavorable  comment  was  that  of  John  Wana- 
maker,  the  great  Philadelphia  merchant,  to  be  Postmaster-General; 
it  being  alleged  that  the  cause  of  his  receiving  Cabinet  honors,  was 
his  service  in  raising  a  campaign  fund  at  a  critical  moment.  Never- 
theless, Mr.  Wanamaker  brought  to  his  office  great  executive  ability, 
while  the  filling  of  the  Attorney-Generalship  from  purely  personal 
considerations  made  a  notably  weak  spot  in  the  administration. 
President  Harrison  conferred  this  office  upon  William  H.  H.  Miller 
of  Indiana,  his  law  partner  and  intimate  friend.  Later  when  he 
desired  to  appoint  Mr.  Miller  to  the  Supreme  Bench  of  the  United 
States,  he  was  prevented  by  the  knowledge  that  he  could  not  be 
confirmed. 

This  administration,  like  the  one  that  preceded  it,  affords  an  im- 
portant illustration  of  conflict  between  Departments,  and  reveals 
the  powerlessness  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  enforce  his  policies 
upon  his  colleagues.  In  the  controversy  between  the  United  States 
and  Chili,  in  i8c)i-'g2,  either  Mr.  Elaine,  Secretary  of  State,  and 
Mr.  Tracy,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  were  at  cross  purposes,  about  the 
conduct  of  the  United  States  naval  officers  who  were  charged  with 
interference  between  factions  in  the  Chilean  Government,  or  the 
State  Department  acquiesced  in  an  assumption  of  authority  over 
foreign  relations  on  the  part  of  the  Navy.2  There  is,  moreover,  reason 
to  suppose  that  President  Harrison  overbore  Mr.  Blaine  in  this 
matter,  and  virtually  took  it  out  of  his  hands,  in  issuing  the  ultima- 
tum, which  demanded  a  thorough  apology  from  the  Chilean  Govern- 
ment.8 

The  relations  between  Harrison  and  Blaine  show  with  especial 
distinctness  the  authority  which  the  President  can  exercise  over 
his  so-called  "  Premier,"  even  when  the  advantages  of  ability,  and 
previous  position  are  on  the  Secretary's  side;  though  Mr.  Elaine's 

2  The  Nation,  LIV,  44,  Navalism;  Hart,  Practical  Essays,  129. 
8  The  Nation,  LIV,  64. 


BENJAMIN  HARRISON.        ,  255 


biographers  are  so  non-committal  about  the  alleged  causes  of 
greement  that  little  more  than  the  general  fact  can  be  asserted.4  Mr. 
Elaine's  superiority  as  an  experienced  statesman  over  his  chief  and 
colleagues  was  more  marked  than  it  had  been  in  the  Garfield  adminis- 
tration ;  yet  it  is  patent  on  the  surface  that  he  was  not  the  dominating 
force  of  the  administration.  A  serious  personal  affront  was  sustained 
at  the  outset  by  President  Harrison's  refusal  to  let  him  appoint  his 
First  Assistant  Secretary,  in  which  relation  he  had  desired  to  have  one 
of  his  sons  associated  with  him,  as  Webster  and  Seward  had  done. 
The  Chilean  affair  seems  to  indicate  that  he  was  at  least  once  over- 
ruled in  his  foreign  policy.  It  is  true  that  his  administration  of 
foreign  affairs  was  extraordinarily  energetic,  and  his  Pan-American 
policy  led  him  to  concern  himself  with  the  McKinley  Tariff  Act  of 

1890,  to  an  extent  that  is  unusual  with  a  Cabinet  officer.    Neverthe- 
less, his  position  was  hampered  both  by  domestic  troubles  and  in- 
creasing alienation  from  his  chief.    The  same  sort  of  trouble  existed 
in  the  latter  quarter,  as  had  come  between  Webster  and  Fillmore, 
and  Lincoln  and  Chase.    June  4,  1892,  Mr.  Elaine  resigned  from  the 
Department.     He  had  abruptly  quitted  a  Cabinet  meeting  shortly 
before,  and  the  story  arose  that  he  was  angry  at  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  though  his  biographer  asserts  that  illness  was  the  cause.5 
Three  days  after  his  resignation,  the  Republican  National  Convention 
met,  and  nominated  President  Harrison  on  the  first  ballot  for  a  sec- 
ond term  of  office,  Mr.  Elaine  being  the  second  candidate  on  the  list, 
but  showing  only  one-third  as  many  votes  as  his  former  chief. 

John  W.  Foster  of  Indiana,  an  eminent  authority  on  International 
Law,  succeeded  Mr.  Elaine  as  Secretary  of  State.  Two  other 
changes  in  the  Cabinet  personnel  had  already  occurred.  In  January, 

1891,  Mr.  Windom,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  died  in  office,  and 
was  succeeded  by  ex-Governor  Charles  Foster  of  Ohio.    In  Decem- 
ber of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Proctor,  Head  of  the  War  Department, 
resigned  to  take  the  seat  in  the  Senate  that  was  vacated  by  the 
death  of  Mr.  Edmunds,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  Cabinet  by  Repre- 
sentative Stephen  B.  Elkins  of  West  Virginia. 

4  Stanwood,  James  G.  Elaine,  334-336  ;  Gail  Hamilton,  Biography  of  James 
G.  Elaine,  704. 
8  Stanwood,  James  G.  Elaine,  340. 


PRESIDENT. 
GROVER  CLEVELAND,   New  York. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
ADLAI  K  STEVENSON,  Illinois. 


March  4,  1893,  to  March  4,  1897. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
WILLIAM  F.  WHARTON,  of  Massachusetts  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim; 

continued  from  last  Administration. 
^WALTER  Q.  GRESHAM,  of  Illinois,  March  6,  1893. 

EDWIN  F.  UHL,  of  Michigan  (Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  May  28,  1895. 
RICHARD  OLNEY,  of  Massachusetts,  June  8,  1895. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

CHARLES  FOSTER,  of  Ohio;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
G.  CARLISLE,  of  Kentucky,  March  6,  1893. 


SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

STEPHEN  B.  ELKINS,  of  West  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
VDANIEL  S.  LAMONT,  of  New  York,  March  6,  1893. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 

WILLIAM  H.  H.  MILLER,  of  Indiana;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
vRiCHARD  OLNEY,  of  Massachusetts,  March  6,  1893. 
JUDSON  HARMON,  of  Ohio,  June  8,  1895. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

JOHN   WANAMAKER,  of   Pennsylvania;   continued   from  last  Administration. 
v  WILSON  S.  BISSELL,  of  New  York,  March  6,  1893. 
WILLIAM  L.  WILSON,  of  West  Virginia,  March  i,  1895. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

BENJAMIN  F.  TRACY,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
HILARY  A.  HERBERT,  of  Alabama,  March  6,  1893. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

JOHN  W.  NOBLE,  of  Missouri;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
HOKE  SMITH,  of  Georgia,  March  6,  1893. 
DAVID  R.  FRANCIS,  of  Missouri,  September  i,  1896. 

JOHN    M.    REYNOLDS,    of    Pennsylvania    (Assistant    Secretary),    ad   interim, 
September  2,  1896. 

SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

JEREMIAH  M.  RUSK,  of  Wisconsin  ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JULIUS  STERLING  MORTON,  of  Nebraska,  March  6,  1893. 

17  257 


CLEVELAND. 

When  President  Cleveland  was  elected  for  a  second  term  of  office 
in  1892,  having  been  defeated  by  the  Republican  candidate  in  1888, 
he  recalled  none  of  his  former  Cabinet;  although  Mr.  Bayard,  who 
had  been  his  Secretary  of  State,  now  succeeded  to  the  dignified  post 
of  Ambassador  to  England.  In  making  up  his  second  administra- 
tion, Mr.  Cleveland  put  the  State  Department  into  the  hands  of 
Judge  Walter  Q.  Gresham,  who  had  figured  in  the  Arthur  Cabinet 
as  a  moderate  Grant  man,  and  had  shown  a  good  deal  of  strength 
in  the  Republican  National  Convention  of  1884,  as  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency;  but  had  latterly  bolted  his  party  out  of  dis- 
like of  the  McKinley  Tariff  Act.  The  fact  that  Judge  Gresham  « 
showed  only  average  qualifications  for  administering  the  foreign 
affairs  of  the  country,  renders  the  selection  the  more  peculiar.  A 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  found  in  John  G.  Carlisle  of  Ken- 
tucky, formerly  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  lat- 
terly a  prominent  member  of  the  Senate.  The  South  received  two 
additional  portfolios,  in  that  Hilary  A.  Herbert  of  Alabama,  for- 
merly a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  where  he  had 
served  on  the  Naval  Committee,  became  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  while 
Hoke  Smith  of  Georgia,  who  had  not  previously  been  connected  with 
the  National  Government,  became  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  New 
England  was  recognized  by  the  appointment  of  Richard  Olney,  an 
able  Massachusetts  lawyer,  to  the  Attorney-Generalship.  The  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  was  assigned  to  Julius  Sterling  Morton 
of  Nebraska.  New  York,  as  before,  furnished  two  members,  and 
both  of  the  appointments  were  personal,  Daniel  S.  Lamont,  private 
secretary  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  former  administration,  becoming  Secre- 
tary of  War,  and  Wilson  S.  Bissell,  a  former  law  partner,  Post- 
master-General. 

No  incidents  of  particular  significance  are  associated  with  this 
Cabinet.     The  administration  incurred  a  reputation  for  weakness, 

259 


260  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

which  neither  accords  with  the  firm  character  of  the  President,  nor 
does  justice  to  the  ability  of  his  advisers.  This  was  due  chiefly  to 
the  disagreement  within  the  party  over  the  Wilson  Tariff  Bill  of 
1894,  and  the  dissentions  over  the  silver  question.  The  member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  who  gave  his  name  to  the  new  tariff 
law,  William  L.  Wilson  of  West  Virginia,  entered  the  Cabinet  in 
1895  as  Postmaster-General.  David  R.  Francis  of  Missouri,  assumed 
the  Interior  portfolio  late  in  the  administration.  The  most  conspicu- 
ous change,  however,  occurred  in  the  State  Department,  to  which  At- 
torney-General Olney  was  transferred  in  June,  1895,  Secretary 
Gresham  having  died  in  office.  The  ensuing  vacancy  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  was  filled  by  the  appointment  of  Judson  Harmon  of 
Ohio. 


PRESIDENT. 
WILLIAM  McKINLEY,  Ohio. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
GARRET  A.  HOB  ART,  New  Jersey.     (Died  November  21,  1899.) 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
WILLIAM  P.  FRYE,  Maine. 


March  4,  1897,  to  March  4,  1901. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

RICHARD  OLNEY,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  SHERMAN,  of  Ohio,  March  5,  1897. 
WILLIAM  R.  DAY,  of  Ohio,  April  26,  1898. 

ALVEY  A.  ADEE  (Second  Assistant  Secretary),  ad  interim,  September  17,  1898. 
JOHN  HAY,  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  September  20,  1898. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

JOHN  G.  CARLISLE,  of  Kentucky;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
LYMAN  J.  GAGE,  of  Illinois,  March  5,  1897. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

DANIEL  S.  LAMONT,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
RUSSELL  A.  ALGER,  of  Michigan,  March  5,  1897. 
ELIHU  ROOT,  of  New  York,  August  i,  1899. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

JUDSON  HARMON,  of  Ohio ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOSEPH  McKENNA,  of  California,  March  5,  1897. 

JOHN  K.  RICHARDS,  of  Ohio  (Solicitor-General),  ad  interim,  January  25,  1898. 
JOHN  W.  GRIGGS,  of  New  Jersey,  January  25,  1898. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

WILLIAM  L.  WILSON,  of  West  Virginia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  A.  GARY,  of  Maryland,  March  5,  1897. 
CHARLES  EMORY  SMITH,  of  Pennsylvania,  April  21,  1898. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

HILARY  A.  HERBERT,  of  Alabama ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  D.  LONG,  of  Massachusetts,  March  5,  1897. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

DAVID  R.  FRANCIS,  of  Missouri;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
CORNELIUS  N.  BLISS,  of  New  York,  March  5,  1897. 
ETHAN  A.  HITCHCOCK,  of  Missouri,  December  21,  1898. 

SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

JULIUS  STERLING  MORTON,  of  Nebraska;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  WILSON,  of  Iowa,  March  5,  1897. 

261 


PRESIDENT. 
WILLIAM  McKINLEY,  Ohio.     (Died  September  14,  1901.) 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,  New  York. 


March  4,  1901,  to  September  14,  1901. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

JOHN  HAY,  of  the  District  of  Columbia;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  HAY,  of  the  District  of  Columbia;  recommissioned  March  5,  1901. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

LYMAN  J.  GAGE,  of  Illinois;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
LYMAN  J.  GAGE,  of  Illinois ;  recommissioned  March  5,  1901. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

ELIHU  ROOT,  of  New  York;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
ELIHU  ROOT,  of  New  York;  recommissioned  March  5,  1901. 

ATTORNEY-  GENERAL. 

JOHN  W.  GRIGGS,  of  New  Jersey;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  W.  GRIGGS,  of  New  Jersey ;  recommissioned  March  5,  1901. 
JOHN  K.  RICHARDS,  of  Ohio   (Solicitor-General),  ad  interim,  April  I,  1901. 
PHILANDER  C.  KNOX,  of  Pennsylvania,  April  5,  1901. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

CHARLES  EMORY  SMITH,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  last  administration. 
CHARLES  EMORY  SMITH,  recommissioned  March  5,  1901. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

JOHN  D.  LONG,  of  Massachusetts;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JOHN  D.  LONG,  of  Massachusetts;  recommissioned  March  5,  1901. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

ETHAN  A.  HITCHCOCK,  of  Missouri ;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
ETHAN  A.  HITCHCOCK,  of  Missouri ;  recommissioned  March  5,  1901. 

SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

JAMES  WILSON,  of  Iowa;  continued  from  last  Administration. 
JAMES  WILSON,  of  Iowa ;  recommissioned  March  5,  1901. 


262 


McKINLEY. 

In  1896,  the  Republican  party  entered  upon  a  new  era,  and  elected 
William  McKinley  as  President.  Inasmuch  as  the  great  party  issue 
was  the  maintaining  of  the  gold  standard,  the  selection  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  was  regarded  as  being,  in  a  peculiar  sense, 
an  index  to  the  administration  policy.  January  28,  1897,  the 
Nation  advocated  the  appointment  of  Lyman  J.  Gage  of  Illinois, 
who  had  never  been  in  politics,  but  whose  knowledge  of  mone- 
tary affairs  was  attested  by  his  high  standing  with  the  American 
Association  of  Bankers.  The  qualifications  urged  were  that 
Mr.  Gage  was  a  believer  in  the  gold  standard,  that  he  was  not 
an  advocate  of  bimetalism,  national  or  international,  and  that  he 
approved  of  a  banking  system  regulated  by,  but  otherwise  inde- 
pendent of  the  Government.  Almost  simultaneously,  the  selection 
of  Mr.  Gage  for  the  Treasury  portfolio  was  announced.  Although 
some  of  the  other  Departments  were  very  ably  filled,  considerations 
of  merit  were  mixed  with  the  gratification  of  local  pride,  and  with 
purely  political  aims,  in  determining  the  appointments.  The  State 
Department  was  manipulated  in  a  manner  that  has  no  exact  parallel. 
It  received  a  semi-honorary  head  in  the  person  of  John  Sherman, 
who  was  too  far  advanced  in  years  to  assume  the  direction  of  the. 
office,  and  against  his  own  judgment  was  withdrawn  from  the 
Senate,  presumably  for  the  purpose  of  vacating  a  seat  for  Mark  A. 
Hanna,  who  had  sprung  into  great  political  prominence  as  Chair- 
man of  the  National  Republican  Committee,  William  R.  Day,  a 
neighbor  and  professional  partner  of  the  President's,  was  shortly 
made  Assistant  Secretary  of  State.  The  War  Department  was 
filled  by  General  Russell  A.  Alger,  ex-Governor  of  Michigan. 
The  Navy  Department  was  accorded  to  John  D.  Long  of  Massa- 
chusetts, formerly  Governor  of  his  State,  and  a  member  of  the  Lower 
House  of  Congress.  The  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was 
Theodore  Roosevelt  of  New  York,  and  the  tradition  that  he  brought 
about  the  appointment  of  Admiral,  then  Commodore,  Dewey,  to  the 

263 


264  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

command  of  the  Asiatic  Station,  even  though  it  be  an  overstatement, 
is  not  an  exaggerated  illustration  of  the  part  which  officers  of  this 
rank  have  begun  to  take  in  their  Departments.  Cornelius  N.  Bliss 
of  New  York,  became  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  while  the  modern 
rule  that  the  South  must  have  one  member  in  a  Republican  Cabinet 
received  a  half  recognition  in  the  appointment  of  James  A.  Gary 
of  Maryland,  to  the  Postmaster-Generalship.  The  Department  of 
Agriculture  was  filled  by  James  Wilson  of  Iowa,  a  practical  farmer, 
and  a  professor  of  scientific  agriculture.  The  State  of  California, 
hitherto  never  represented  in  the  National  Executive,  received  a 
complimentary  recognition  in  the  appointment  of  Joseph  McKenna, 
Judge  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court,  to  the  Attorney-General- 
ship ;  the  real  purpose  being  apparently  explained  ten  months  later, 
when  Mr.  McKenna  was  appointed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States. 

This  Cabinet  proved  to  have  less  than  the  average  permanence; 
but  as  it  changed,  it  increased  its  efficiency.  The  outbreak  of  the 
War  with  Spain  in  1898  revealed  its  weak  places.  Secretary 
Sherman  retired  in  April,  and  Assistant  Secretary  Day  became  the 
titular,  as  he  had  previously  been  the  actual,  head  of  the 
State  Department.  Postmaster-General  Gary  also  avoided  the  ad- 
ditional stress  which  his  Department  must  incur,  by  a  timely  resig- 
nation ;  and  Charles  Emory  Smith,  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Press, 
succeeded  him.  More  notable  changes  came  with  the  close  of  the 
War.  Secretary  Day  became  one  of  the  members  of  the  Peace 
Commission  which  assembled  at  Paris  in  September,  1898;  and  on 
his  return,  he  was  made  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Meanwhile,  the  State  Department  received  one  of  its  most  distin- 
guished incumbents  in  John  Hay,  who  had  been  introduced  to  public 
affairs  as  private  secretary  to  Lincoln,  and  had  enjoyed  an  extended 
diplomatic  career. 

While  the  Navy  Department  emerged  from  the  hostilities  with 
Spain  with  high  credit,  the  War  Office  was  discredited  by  friction 
with  the  head  of  the  army.  Though  a  study  of  this  Department 
would  discover  many  instances  of  difficulty  along  this  line,  it  would 
find  an  aggravated  case  in  the  affair  between  Secretary  Alger  and 
General  Miles.  Charges  of  gross  incompetency  in  the  administration 


McKlNLEY.  265 

of  the  Department  constrained  President  McKinley  to  order  an  inves- 
tigation of  certain  bureaus ;  but  he  still  retained  the  Secretary  a  full 
year  in  the  face  of  much  public  criticism  ;  he  then  requested  his  resig- 
nation through  the  agency  of  Vice-President  Hobart,  Mr.  Alger's 
candidacy  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate  serving  to  ease  the  situation. 
The  Secretaryship  of  War  was  now  likely  to  become  the  most  im- 
portant Cabinet  office,  inasmuch  as  that  Department  would  direct, 
for  a  time,  the  governing  of  the  new  insular  dependencies.  Presi- 
dent McKinley  looked  for  a  man  of  legal  rather  than  military 
training  to  be  the  counsellor  and  agent  of  this  new  task,  and  in 
choosing  Elihu  Root  of  New  York,  secured  an  eminently  vigorous 
Secretary  of  War,  who  promptly  addressed  himself  not  only  to  the 
new  problems,  but  also  to  correcting  the  defects  in  the  military 
organization  which  the  war  had  discovered. 

Secretary  of  the  Interior  Bliss,  also  from  New  York,  had  quietly 
retired  from  the  Interior  Department  a  year  before,  having  pre- 
sumably found  it  an  uncongenial  task  to  cope  with  abuses  in  the 
Land  Office  and  Pension  Bureau.  He  was  succeeded  by  Ethan 
A.  Hitchcock  of  Missouri,  whose  longer  incumbency  and  more 
strenuous  support  were  fruitful  of  important  results. 

When  the  Cabinet  was  reappointed  at  the  beginning  of  President 
McKinley's  second  term  of  office,  no  changes  were  made  in  its 
personnel;  but  a  month  later  Attorney-General  Griggs  retired,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Philander  C.  Knox  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  ability 
as  a  lawyer  was  •certified  by  the  opposition  to  him  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  previously  been  employed  by  the  steel  trust  and  other 
large  corporations. 

When  the  assassination  of  President  McKinley  occurred  in  Buffalo, 
September  5,  1901,  the  members  of  his  Cabinet,  with  only  one  or 
two  exceptions,  gathered  together  there,  to  assume  the  ceremonial 
functions  which  custom  would  devolve  upon  them  in  the  event  of 
the  President's  death.  Secretary  of  State  Hay  was  designated  at 
this  time  by  the  press  as  the  "  senior  member  "  and  the  "  ranking 
member"  of  the  Cabinet.  Moreover,  his  place  in  the  Presidential 
succession,  under  the  law  of  1886,  was  recognized  by  his  remaining 
at  the  seat  of  Government,  while  the  new  President,  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  accompanied  the  funeral  party. 


PRESIDENT. 
THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,  New  York. 

PRESIDENT  PRO  TEMPORE  OF  THE  SENATE. 
WILLIAM  P.  FRYE,  Maine. 


September  14,  1901  to  March  4,  1905. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

JOHN  HAY,  of  the  District  of  Columbia;  continued  from  McKinley's  Admin- 
istration. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

LYMAN  J.  GAGE,  of  Illinois;  continued  from  McKinley's  Administration. 
LESLIE  M.  SHAW,  of  Iowa,  January  9,  1902. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

ELIHU  ROOT,  of  New  York;  continued  from  McKinley's  Administration. 
WILLIAM  H.  TAFT,  of  Ohio,  January  n,  1904. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

PHILANDER  C.  KNOX,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  McKinley's  Adminis- 
tration. 
WILLIAM  H.  MOODY,  of  Massachusetts,  July  I,  1904. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

CHARLES  EMORY  SMITH,  of  Pennsylvania;  continued  from  McKinley's  Ad- 
ministration. 

HENRY  C.  PAYNE,  of  Wisconsin,  January  9,  1902. 
ROBERT  J.  WYNNE,  of  Pennsylvania,  October  10,  1904. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

JOHN  D.  LONG,  of  Massachusetts ;  continued  from  McKinley's  Administration. 
WILLIAM  H.  MOODY,  of  Massachusetts,  April  29,  1902. 
PAUL  MORTON,  of  Illinois,  July  I,  1904. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

ETHAN  A.  HITCHCOCK,  of  Missouri;  continued  from  McKinley's  Adminis- 
tration. 

SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE. 
JAMES  WILSON,  of  Iowa;  continued  from  McKinley's  Administration. 

SECRETARY  OF  COMMERCE  AND  LABOR. 
GEORGE  B.  CORTELYOU,  of  New  York,  February  16,  1903. 
VICTOR  H.  METCALF,  of  California,  July  I,  1904. 

267 


PRESIDENT. 
THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,  New  York. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
CHARLES  W.  FAIRBANKS,  Indiana. 


March  4,  1905  to  March  4,  1909. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 

JOHN  HAY,  of  the  District  of  Columbia;  recommissioned  March  6,  1905. 
ELIHU  ROOT,  New  York,  July  7,  1905. 
ROBERT  BACON,  of  New  York,  January  27,  1909. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

LESLIE  M.  SHAW,  of  Iowa ;  recommissioned  March  6,  1905. 
GEORGE  B.  CORTELYOU,  of  Massachusetts,  January  15,  1907,  to  take  effect  March 
4,  1907. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

WILLIAM  H.  TAFT,  of  Ohio ;  recommissioned  March  6,  1905. 
LUKE  E.  WRIGHT,  of  Tennessee,  June  29,  1908. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

WILLIAM  H.  MOODY,  of  Massachusetts;  recommissioned  March  6,  1905. 
CHARLES  J.  BONAPARTE,  of  Maryland,  December  12,  1906. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 

GEORGE  B.  CORTELYOU,  of  New  York,  March  6,  1905. 

GEORGE  VON  L.  MEYER,  of  Massachusetts,  January  15,  1907,  to  take  effect 
March  4,  1907. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

PAUL  MORTON,  of  Illinois;  recommissioned  March  6,  1905. 
CHAS.  J.  BONAPARTE,  of  Maryland,  July  I,  1905. 
VICTOR  H.  METCALF,  of  California,  December  12,  1906. 
TRUMAN  H.  NEWBERRY,  of  Michigan,  December  i,  1908. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

ETHAN  A.  HITCHCOCK,  of  Missouri;  recommissioned  March  6,  1905. 
JAMES  R.  GARFIELD,  of  Ohio,  January  15,  1907,  to  take  effect  March  4,  1907. 

SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE. 
JAMES  WILSON,  of  Iowa;  recommissioned  March  6,  1905. 

SECRETARY  OF  COMMERCE  AND  LABOR. 

VICTOR  H.  METCALF,  of  California ;  recommissioned  March  6,  1905. 
OSCAR  S.  STRAUS,  of  New  York,  December  12,  1906. 
268 


ROOSEVELT. 

President  Roosevelt  forestalled  the  resignation  of  the  McKinley 
Cabinet  by  requesting  its  members  to  continue  in  office,  and  announc- 
ing that  he  would  not  inaugurate  a  new  administration,  but  complete 
that  of  his  predecessor.  Notwithstanding  this  determination,  the 
Cabinet  was  in  a  state  of  fluctuation  during  his  entire  presidency, 
going  through  two  seasons  of  recasting,  prior  to  the  expiration  of 
his  predecessor's  Constitutional  term,  and  being  two  or  three  times 
readjusted  in  the  course  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  second  term  of  office. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  assembling  of  Congress  in  December, 
1901,  Postmaster-General  Smith  resigned  to  resume  his  duties  as 
editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Press,  and  was  succeeded  by  Henry  C. 
Payne  of  Wisconsin,  who  had  some  political  prominence  as  a  member 
of  the  National  Republican  Committee.  Simultaneously,  Secretary 
Gage  of  the  Treasury  Department  returned  to  private  life;  and 
ex-Governor  Leslie  M.  Shaw  of  Iowa,  an  open  candidate  for  the 
presidential  nomination  of  1904,  was  called  into  the  Cabinet.  A 
few  months  later,  Secretary  Long  of  the  Navy  Department  retired 
to  resume  his  profession;  and  William  H.  Moody,  a  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  delegation  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  suc- 
ceeded him  in  the  Cabinet,  a  selection  which  satisfied  the  President's 
desire  to  keep  a  New  England  man  in  his  administration,  and  was 
attributed  by  the  press  to  the  influence  of  his  confidant  Senator 
Lodge. 

In  February,  1903,  a  Cabinet  appointment  was  necessitated  by 
the  establishment  of  an  Executive  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor,  which  had  been  strongly  urged  by  President  Roosevelt  in  his 
Annual  Message  of  December,  1901.  The  President's  recommenda- 
tion was  to  establish  a  Department  of  Commerce,  a  proposition  which 
called  out  the  endorsement  of  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of 
the  country.  A  bill  for  the  purpose  was  promptly  introduced  in  the 

269 


,270  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Senate ;  and  in  the  following-  session,  February  14,  1903,  an  Act  was 
passed  to  establish  a  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor.  It  was 
to  be  the  province  and  duty  of  the  Department  to  foster,  promote, 
and  develop  the  foreign  and  domestic  commerce,  the  mining,  manu- 
facturing, shipping,  and  fishery  industries,  the  labor  interests,  and 
the  transportation  facilities  of  the  United  States.  Many  bureaus 
and  offices  discharging  the  functions  herein  enumerated  already  ex- 
isted ;  and  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  like  that  of  the 
Interior,  was  built  up  to  a  great  extent,  by  relieving  the  older  Depart- 
ments of  branches  which  more  appropriately  belonged  under  a  differ- 
ent organization  and  title.  The  arrangement  was  not  satisfactory 
to  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  which  organization  showed  a 
disposition,  both  at  the  time  and  afterwards,  to  demand  a  separate 
Department  to  look  after  its  interests.  The  first  incumbent  of  the 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  was  George  B,  Cortelyou  of 
New  York,  who  had  been  private  secretary  to  President  McKinley, 
and  was  retained  in  that  capacity  by  Roosevelt. 

Early  in  1904,  Secretary  of  War  Root  relinquished  public  office 
for  a  time;  but  the  prominence  which  the  Department  had  sustained 
under  his  administration  suffered  no  falling  off  by  the  succession  of 
Judge  William  H.  Taft  of  Ohio,  previously  head  of  the  Commission 
for  governing  the  Philippine  Islands.  A  few  months  later  Attorney- 
General  Knox  left  the  Cabinet,  and  assumed  the  seat  in  the  Senate, 
which  was  vacated  by  the  death  of  Matthew  M.  Quay  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Secretary  Moody  was  now  transferred  to  the  Attorney- 
Generalship,  and  the  resulting  vacancy  in  the  Navy  was  filled  by  the 
appointment  of  Paul  Morton  of  Illinois.  The  latter  choice  provoked 
much  criticism,  partly  because  of  Mr.  Morton's  Democratic  ante- 
cedents, and  partly  on  account  of  his  relations  with  the  business 
world.  And  the  arrangement  proved  only  temporary.  At  the  same 
time,  Secretary  Cortelyou  quitted  the  new  Department,  which  he  had 
set  into  operation,  in  order  to  become  Chairman  of  the  Republican 
National  Committee.  The  selection  of  his  successor,  Victor  H. 
Metcalf,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  California, 
was  determined  largely  by  geographical  considerations. 

The  Cabinet  had  now  greatly  changed  its  complexion  since  the 


ROOSEVELT.  271 

death  of  President  McKinley;  and,  inasmuch  as  the  presidential 
election  of  1904  was  at  hand,  the  critics  of  the  administration,  espe- 
cially the  Nation,  were  disposed  to  connect  the  shuffling  with  the 
political  interests  of  Mr.  Roosevelt.  It  could  not  be  claimed  at  this 
juncture,  that  the  ability  of  the  Cabinet  had  increased;  and  it  was 
easy  to  charge  the  President  with  making  politics  and  not  efficiency, 
the  prime  consideration.1  The  Roosevelt  administration  will  undoubt- 
edly stand  out  as  one  conspicuous  for  political  activity.  Some  of  the 
Secretaries  went  onto  the  stump  in  1904;  and  the  whole  Cabinet  in 
1908.  Duff  Green  would  certainly  have  stigmatized  it  as  a  "  traveling 
Cabinet "  that  went  about  on  "  electioneering  perambulations,"  mak- 
ing Presidents  and  Governors,  instead  of  attending  to  its  proper 
duties.  It  could  not  be  charged,  however,  that  the  Cabinet  officers 
were  made  and  unmade  with  reference  to  their  dexterity  in  turning 
the  patronage  to  political  ends,  or  in  redemption  of  political  pledges. 
Neither  would  the  exclusion  of  those  men  who  have  charge  of  the 
policies  of  the  administration,  from  the  right  to  explain  them  to  the 
people,  appeal  to  the  best  judgment  of  the  country.  Even  the  Nation 
admits  that  this  is  a  legitimate  function,  and  sometimes  a  highly  de- 
sirable one.  Less  than  a  month  before  the  presidential  election,  Post- 
master-General Payne,  whose  appointment  had  been  especially  viewed 
as  a  political  one,  was  permitted  to  retire,  having  incurred  public 
criticism  for  coming  into  collision  with  the  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sioners, and  for  other  causes. 

The  early  months  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  second  term  of  office  saw 
another  Cabinet  reconstruction ;  and  although  the  distinguished 
figure  of  Secretary  Hay  was  now  lost,  the  administration,  on  the 
whole,  gained  in  strength.  It  also  assumed  a  peculiarly  representa- 
tive character,  not  of  geographical  sections,  but  of  types  of  American 
citizenship.  Mr.  Cortelyou,  after  conducting  the  presidential  cam- 
paign in  a  manner  that  was  at  the  same  time  clean  and  vigorous, 
reentered  the  administration  as  Postmaster-General,  the  brief  incum- 
bency of  Robert  J.  Wynne  of  Pennsylvania  having  intervened  since 
the  retirement  of  Mr.  Payne.  Charles  J.  Bonaparte  of  Maryland, 
a  lawyer  of  standing,  succeeded  Paul  Morton  in  the  Navy  Depart- 

1;The  Nation,  LXXVIII,  504. 


.272  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

ment.  Being  a  leading  Civil  Service  reformer,  Mr.  Bonaparte  gave 
to  the  administration  a  tinge  of  what  Bristow,  Schurz,  and  Wayne 
MacVeagh  had  stood  for  in  the  'Seventies  and  'Eighties,  when  those 
principles  were  the  subject  of  greater  and  more  necessary  agitation. 
In  religion,  Mr.  Bonaparte  was  a  Roman  Catholic.  The  death  of 
Secretary  Hay,  in  July,  1905,  vacated  the  State  Department,  and 
ended  one  of  the  most  brilliant  careers  in  the  history  of  the  Cabinet. 
But  the  vacancy  was  most  satisfactorily  filled.  Elihu  Root,  who  had 
shown  himself,  by  his  late  incumbency  of  the  War  Department, 
most  efficient  as  an  Executive  officer,  and  superior  to  any  of  his  col- 
leagues as  an  intermediary  between  the  administration  and  the 
country,  set  aside  his  professional  interests  a  second  time  to  enter 
public  life,  and  became  Secretary  of  State.  From  this  time  on, 
Secretaries  Root  and  Taft,  and  Attorney-General  Moody,  until  his 
resignation,  enjoyed  in  the  public  mind  the  distinction  of  possessing 
a  more  than  ordinary  share  of  the  President's  confidence. 

This  series  of  changes,  transfers,  and  promotions  called  forth  from 
captious  critics  its  due  measure  of  condemnation.  The  Nation 
commented  as  follows  :  "  We  think  that  the  real  importance  of  the 
Cabinet  in  our  system  has  been  clouded  of  late.  A  tradition  of 
'  loyalty '  to  the  President  has  grown  up,  which  too  much  tends  to 
degrade  the  Secretaries  into  echoes  and  adulators.  But  the  truest 
loyalty  of  a  Cabinet  member  lies  in  giving  his  chief  unflinchingly 
both  advice  and  frequent  doses  of  what  it  is  so  hard  for  President 
or  Czar  ever  to  hear,  to  say  nothing  of  acting  upon  it — plain  truth."  ' 
In  ascribing  the  tradition  of  "  loyalty  "  to  a  late  date,  the  critic  was  in 
error;  and  equally  so  in  supposing  that  the  Cabinet  was  undergoing 
any  eclipse.  Certainly  there  were  marks  of  a  very  vigorous  and  active 
presidential  policy.  If  the  abruptness  that  detracted  from  the  Presi- 
dent's popularity  with  Congress  led  to  heated  Cabinet  episodes,  their 
secrecy  was  preserved.  The  Loeb  Letter  of  October,  1905,  directed 
against  the  communication  of  Cabinet  affairs  to  the  newspapers,  was 
apparently  the  occasion  of  a  sharp  discussion,  and  it  was  believed  that 
the  President  modified  the  spirit  of  the  order.  It  was  only  the  man- 
ner of  the  order,  however,  that  was  peculiar  to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  for  he 

2  The  Nation,  LXXXI,  26. 


ROOSEVELT.  273 

was  not  the  first  President  to  caution  his  Cabinet  about  the  news- 
papers. As  a  protector  of  his  Se.cretaries  against  the  kind  of  criticism 
that  administrative  reforms  call  out,  Mr.  Roosevelt  showed  himself 
the  equal  of  any  of  his  predecessors,  and  the  superior  of  most.  Secre- 
tary Hitchcock's  vigorous  administration  of  the  Interior  Department, 
especially  in  the  Land  Office,  would  not  have  been  possible,  without 
the  avowed  and  persistent  support  of  his  chief.  And  Secretary  Wil- 
son was  similarly  sustained  in  the  face  of  assaults  upon  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture. 

In  the  winter  of  I9o6-'o7,  another  reconstruction  occurred.  A 
vacancy  upon  the  Supreme  Bench  made  it  possible  for  Mr.  Roose- 
velt to  honor  Attorney-General  Moody  by  elevation  to  that  tribunal. 
At  about  the  same  time,  Secretary  Shaw  was  pleased  to  retire  from 
the  Treasury  Department.  Mr.  Shaw  had  never  been  a  great  force 
in  the  administration.  Since  the  monetary  and  fiscal  legislation 
under  President  McKinley,  the  Treasury  had  been  relatively  of  less 
importance  than  the  State  and  War  Departments ;  and  it  was 
believed,  moreover,  that  this  particular  appointment  was  primarily 
intended  to  put  a  presidential  candidate  where  he  would  not  be 
formidable  in  1904.  Secretary  Hitchcock's  retirement  was  com- 
monly accredited  to  his  advanced  years  and  failing  health.  In 
recasting  the  Cabinet  on  this  occasion,  Mr.  Roosevelt  allowed  him- 
self a  particularly  wide  latitude  in  placing  men  where  he  wanted 
them,  and  in  securing  the  desired  personal  types,  regardless 
of  geographical  and  other  rules.  Postmaster-General  Cortelyou 
was  promoted  to  the  Treasury  Department ;  Secretary  Bonaparte  of 
the  Navy,  to  the  Attorney-Generalship;  and  Secretary  Metcalf  of 
the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  to  the  Navy.  The  result- 
ing vacancy  in  the  Post-Office  Department  was  filled  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  George  von  L.  Meyer,  of  Massachusetts,  a  man  who  had 
occupied  two  or  three  conspicuous  diplomatic  posts,  and  was  espe- 
cially qualified  for  Cabinet  office  on  the  social  side.  The  Department 
of  Commerce  and  Labor  was  filled  by  Oscar  S.  Straus,  a  prominent 
lawyer  from  New  York.  Mr.  Straus  was  especially  identified  with 
the  work  of  civic  reform ;  and  was  independent  in  his  political 
affiliations,  having  held  a  diplomatic  office  under  a  Democratic  admin- 

18 


274  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

istration.  He  was  also  a  representative  of  the  Jewish  element. 
Secretary  Hitchcock  was  succeeded  in  the  Interior  Department  by 
James  Rudolph  Garfield  of  Ohio,  a  former  member  of  the  Civil  Ser- 
vice Commission,  and  Commissioner  of  Corporations  under  the 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor.  Mr.  Garfield  was  the  young- 
est member  of  the  Cabinet;  and  was  conspicuous  for  his  high 
political  ideals. 

The  Congressional  session  of  1906-^07  took  action  upon  the 
salaries  of  Cabinet  officers.  Until  1853,  there  had  been  different 
grades  of  emolument ;  but  after  that  the  Departments  had  been  equal 
in  this  respect.  By  the  original  provision,  the  Secretary  of  State 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  received  $3,500;  the  Secretary 
of  War,  $3,000;  and  the  Attorney-General,  $1,500.  After  ten 
years,  in  1799,  the  salaries  attached  to  the  State  and  Treasury  port- 
folios were  raised  to  $5,000;  those  of  the  War  Office  and  Navy 
Department,  to  $4,500;  while  that  of  the  Attorney-General's  office 
was  made  $3,000.  In  1819,  the  Secretaryships  were  put  upon  one 
level  at  $6,000;  but  the  office  of  Attorney-General  was  left  so  low 
as  $3,500.  The  salary  of  the  Postmaster-General  was  increased 
much  faster  than  that  of  the  Attorney-General ;  and  when  that  officer 
began  to  sit  in  the  Cabinet,  it  was  equal  to  that  of  the  Secretaries. 
By  act  of  March  3,  1853,  all  of  the  Cabinet  salaries  were  placed  at 
$8,000.  Finally,  the  act  making  appropriations  for  the  legislative, 
executive,  and  judicial  expenses  for  the  fiscal  year  1907-^08,  in- 
creased the  Cabinet  salaries  to  $12,000. 

The  last  months  of  the  administration  brought  additional  changes 
of  personnel.  In  June,  1908,  Secretary  Taft  was  nominated  for 
the  Presidency;  and  his  immediate  retirement  from  the  Cabinet 
indicates  both  the  enormous  increase  in  the  duties  of  Department 
Heads,  and  the  change  in  the  mode  of  conducting  presidental  cam- 
paigns since  the  old  Republican  days,  when  Secretaries  of  State 
proceeded  immediately  from  that  Department  to  the  Executive 
Mansion.  The  vacancy  in  the  War  Office  was  filled  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Luke  E.  Wright,  of  Kentucky,  a  choice  prompted  by  a  desire 
to  recognize  the  South.  Later  Secretary  Metcalf  dropped  out  of  the 
Navy  Department ;  and  Mr.  Root,  who  was  about  to  become  Senator 


ROOSEVELT.  275 

from  New  York,  resigned  the  State  portfolio  in  time  to  gain  a  brief 
respite  from  public  life.  These  vacancies,  which  would  presumably 
have  been  filled  by  ad  interim  designations  under  the  earlier  law  on 
that  subject,  were  provided  for  by  the  promotion  of  the  Assistant- 
Secretaries  Truman  H.  Newberry  in  the  Navy,  and  Robert  Bacon, 
in  the  State  Department.  In  its  personal  interest  the  Roosevelt 
Cabinet  yields  to  no  other.  As  to  whether  special  significance 
attached  to  its  official  relations,  the  events  are  too  recent  to  show. 


PRESIDENT. 
WILLIAM  H.  TAFT,  Ohio. 

VICE-PRESIDENT. 
JAMES  S.  SHERMAN,  New  York. 


March  4,  1909  to  . 

SECRETARY  OF  STATE. 
PHILANDER  C.  KNOX,  of  Pennsylvania;  March  5,  1909. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 
FRANKLIN  MACVEIGH,  of  Illinois,  March  5,  1909. 

SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

JACOB  M.  DICKINSON,  of  Tennessee,  March  5,  1909. 
HENRY  L.  STIMSON,  of  New  York,  May  15,  1911. 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 
GEORGE  W.  WICKERSHAM,  of  New  York,  March  5,  1909. 

POSTMASTER-GENERAL. 
FRANK  H.  HITCHCOCK,  of  Massachusetts,  March  5,  1909. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 
GEORGE  VON  L.  MEYER,  of  Massachusetts,  March  5,  1909. 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

RICHARD  A.  BALLINGER,  of  Washington,  March  5,  1909. 
WALTER  H.  FISHER,  of  Illinois,  March  13,  1911. 

SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE. 
JAMES  WILSON,  of  Iowa,  recommissioned  March  5,  1909. 

SECRETARY  OF  COMMERCE  AND  LABOR. 
CHARLES  NAGEL,  of  Missouri,  March  5,  1909. 


277 


TAFT. 

The  make-up  of  the  Taft  Cabinet  had  much  that  was  unusual  about 
it,  and  some  things  that  outwardly  were  not  easy  to  explain.  In  the 
first  place,  Congress  resorted  to  a  special  dispensation  on  behalf  of  a 
prospective  Secretary  who  was  Constitutionally  disqualified.  The 
President-elect  had  chosen  for  his  Secretary  of  State,  Senator  Phil- 
ander C.  Knox  of  Pennsylvania,  formerly  Attorney-General  under 
both  McKinley  and  Roosevelt.  Some  time  after  this  choice  had  been 
announced,  it  was  discovered  that  Mr.  Knox  had  become  ineligible 
for  a  Cabinet  portfolio,  under  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  that 
forbids  any  member  of  Congress  to  accept  an  office,  the  emoluments 
whereof  have  been  increased  during  his  term  of  service.  A  bill  was 
at  once  prepared  to  reduce  the  salary  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to 
what  it  had  been  before  the  recent  legislation  upon  the  subject. 
This  passed  the  Senate  without  a  dissenting  vote,  and  had  also  a  wide 
margin  in  the  Lower  House,  although  the  principle  was  not  approved 
in  all  quarters.  Still  further,  Mr.  Taft  selected  for  the  Treasury 
portfolio,  Franklin  MacVeagh  of  Illinois,  who  was  a  man  engaged  in 
business  on  a  large  scale.  Herein  lay  an  irregularity  after  the  fashion 
of  President  Grant's  attempt  to  appoint  A.  T.  Stewart,  the  merchant- 
prince  of  his  time  to  the  same  position,  but  in  its  size  more  like  the 
case  of  Edwin  D.  Morgan,  who  was  actually  confirmed  under 
President  Arthur.  It  was  understood  that  Mr.  Mac  Veagh  had  made 
conveyances  of  his  business  interests  to  other  parties.  And  the 
appointment  proceeded.  New-made  Republicans  received  more  than 
ordinary  honor.  Mr.  MacVeagh  was  by  his  traditions  a  Democrat, 
though  with  Pennsylvania  connections.  I '.el  ween  liis  assumption 
of  the  Treasury,  and  the  pending  tariff  revision,  there  appeared  to  be 
no  particular  relation.  The  War  Department  was  assigned  to  a 
still  more  doubtful  party  man,  Jacob  M.  Dickinson  of  Tenne 
This  choice,  like  that  of  Mr.  Dickinson's  immediate  predecessor, 
pointed  to  a  desire  in  the  Republican  party  to  break  up  the  old  sec- 

279 


280  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

tional  line.  The  Post-Office  became  a  manager's  portfolio  again, 
falling  to  Frank  H.  Hitchcock,  who  had  been  Chairman  of  the  Re- 
publican National  Committee  during  the  presidential  campaign. 
Another  feature  was  the  retention  of  two  members  of  the  Roosevelt 
administration,  Mr.  George  von  L.  Meyer,  who  was  transferred 
from  the  Post-Office  to  the  Navy,  and  Mr.  James  Wilson,  who 
retained  his  former  portfolio,  the  Department  of  Agriculture.  Mr. 
Wilson's  incumbency  now  bade  fair  to  become  the  longest  in  the 
history  of  the  Cabinet,  being  surpassed  only  by  that  of  Albert  Galla- 
tin,  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  So  far  as  outwardly  appeared, 
the  other  appointments  were  determined  primarily  by  considerations 
of  locality.  New  York  contributed  the  Attorney-General,  George  Vvr. 
Wickersham.  Missouri  furnished  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and 
Labor,  Charles  Nagle.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Richard  A. 
Ballinger,  came  from  Washington.  It  might  have  been  remarked  that 
by  the  Wilson,  Nagle,  and  Ballinger  appointments,  the  three  port- 
folios that  reflect  especially  the  industrial  and  economic  progress  of 
the  country,  and  to  some  extent,  its  geographical  expansion,  lay- 
decidedly  towards  the  Newer  West.  In  one  case,  this  proved  to  be 
a  sort  of  sectionalism  that  had  disastrous  results. 

Mr.  Ballinger  was  a  lawyer  of  reputation,  and  his  appointment 
to  be  Head  of  the  Interior  Department  was  indirectly  a  promotion 
from  the  General  Land  Office.  Much  ill-suppressed  disorder  had 
attached  to  the  Department  from  its  establishment  in  1849.  And 
the  evils  that  had  the  greatest  consequences  had  grown  out  of  the 
exposure  of  certain  bureaus  to  the  "  interests  "  that  were  exploiting 
the  Great  West.  A  movement  for  the  Conservation  of  the  National 
Resources,  popularized  by  President  Roosevelt,  had  now  thrust  it  into 
the  very  forefront  of  Cabinet  affairs  for  its  administrative  importance. 
But  the  new  Secretary's  course  was  animated  by  the  contrary  idea 
of  speedy  development  of  the  country.  The  result  was  the  Ballinger- 
Pinchot  controversy,  which  might  well  have  been  a  scene  from  the 
Grant  administration,  acted  over  again,  a  generation  afterwards.  A 
subordinate  in  the  General  Land  Office  charged  Secretary  Ballinger 
with  catering  to  corporation  interests,  especially  in  the  management 
of  the  "  Cunningham  Claims,"  which  were  concerned  with  coal  lands 


TAFT.  281 

in  Alaska.  Mr.  Gifford  Pinchot,  who  was  Head  of  the  Forestry 
Bureau  in  the  Agricultural  Department,  carried  the  accusations  still 
further,  charging  unsuitable  administration  of  the  forest  preserves. 
The  assault  upon  the  Interior  Department  reached  the  proportions  of 
a  Congressional  investigation.  The  Committee  exonerated  the 
Secretary  by  a  party  majority,  and  Congress  refrained  from  acting 
upon  its  report.  In  due  time,  Mr.  Ballinger  resigned.  President 
Taft  had  shown  himself  the  most  loyal  of  chiefs  in  the  protection  of 
his  unfortunate  Secretary.  But  he  appointed  a  Conservationist  to 
succeed  him,  Mr.  Walter  L.  Fisher  of  Illinois.  A  few  weeks  later  a 
change  occurred  in  the  War  Department.  And  in  appointing  Mr. 
Henry  L.  Stimson  of  New  York,  to  succeed  Mr.  Dickinson,  who  re- 
tired to  look  after  private  business,  the  President  improved  the  oppor- 
tunity to  cement  the  party  factions  for  the  approaching  election. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING. 

One  of  the  most  characteristic  features  of  the  American  Cabinet 
is  its  relation  or  exposure  to  party  methods  and  aims.  This  would 
be  expected  under  such  a  strenuous  and  all-embracing  party  system 
as  operates  the  American  Government.  It  is  an  aspect  that  has 
been  touched  upon  many  times  in  the  foregoing  sketches  of  the 
Administrations ;  but  merits  further  development  by  a  summary  of 
the  principles  and  rules  of  Cabinet  making. 

The  first  of  these  is  that  the  incumbents  of  Cabinet  portfolios  must 
hold  the  same  political  tenets  as  the  President  and  the  party  that  has 
elected  hini?t-Phe  first  Cabinet  affords  the  incongruous  spectacle  of 
the  chiefs  of  opposing  parties,  Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  pitted  against 
each  other.  But,  whatever  Washington's  original  purpose  was  re- 
garding a  political  balance  in  the  Executive,  he  definitely  committed 
himself  to  a  party  Cabinet,  when  Randolph  retired  from  the  State 
Department  in  1795.  John  Adams,  who  was  the  first  President  to 
owe  his  election  to  a  particular  party,  kept  strictly  within  its  ranks 
in  choosing  his  official  advisers ;  and  this  is  the  more  significant, 
because  the  factional  quarrel  which  followed  his  election  was  not 
unattended  by  overtures  from  the  opposition.  Still  further,  when  the 
Government  underwent  for  the  first  time  a  distinct  change  of  princi- 
ples, with  the  accession  of  Jefferson  in  1801,  it  was  not  expected 
that  any  of  the  former  Ministers  would  be  retained;  and  none  of 
them  were.  So  soon,  then,  as  the  Presidency  itself  became  a  party 
office,  political  agreement  between  President  and  Cabinet  was  recog- 
nized as  the  prime  rule  to  be  observed  in  forming  an  administration. 

Departures  from  this  rule  have  been  few.  Apparent  exceptions 
there  have  been,  arising  both  from  the  shifting  of  party  lines 
and  individual  cases  of  mugwumpery.  Thus  the  virtual  disap- 
pearance of  parties  during  the  interval  when  the  old  issues  between 
Federalists  and  Republicans  were  giving  place  to  new  ones  between 
Whigs  and  Democrats,  brought  men  together  in  the  Monroe  Cabinet, 


284  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

who  differed  both  in  their  earlier  and  later  affiliations.  The  combina- 
tion of  hitherto  opposing  elements  into  the  modern  Republican  party 
was  attended  by  a  similar  situation  in  the  Lincoln  Cabinet.  And 
Tyler's  attempt  to  bring  about  a  fusion  of  the  disaffected  elements 
of  two  parties  is  reflected  in  the  anomalous  mixture  at  the  Cabinet 
table.  The  most  conspicuous  individual  case  is  that  of  Walter  Q. 
Gresham,  who  became  Secretary  of  State  under  Cleveland  in  1893,^ 
after  he  had  been  a  member  of  Arthur's  Cabinet  in  1883  and  1884, 
and  had  shown  a  strong  candidacy  for  the  Republican  presidential 
nomination  in  1888.  The  attitude  of  the  Republican  party  towards 
the  South,  since  the  Civil  War,  has  led  to  several  appointments  that 
are  apparent  exceptions  to  the  rule  of  political  agreement.  The 
Roosevelt  Cabinet  afforded  the  example  of  Luke  E.  Wright  in  the 
War  Department,  and  that  of  Taft  furnished  a  similar  case  in  Jacob 
M.  Dickinson.  Indeed  there  is  a  tendency  of  late  for  the  President  to 
indulge  in  a  Cabinet  appointment,  usually  early  in  his  administration, 
that  shall  mark  him  as  the  head  of  the  Nation,  rather  than  the  head  of 
his  party.  But  such  cases  disappear  as  political  expediency  becomes 
more  pressing,  as  when  President  Taft  began  to  call  into  his  Cabinet 
prominent  members  of  the  faction  whose  insurgency  had  probably 
cost  the  Republican  party  the  mid-term  elections.  There  are  only  two 
instances  in  which  men  have  been  called  into  the  Cabinet  immediately 
from  the  opposition.  Lincolnf|(^the  selection  of  Stanton  to  be  his 
War  Minister,  set  asideNfae  prime  tJiftTof  Cabinet  making  in  order  to 
secure  a  particular  man.  The  sequel  was,  however/- 
changed  his  party.  The  other  instance  is  the  appointmenl 
M.  Key  by  Hayes  to  be  Postmaster-General,  in  which  case  the 
tion  Minister  preserved  his  old  affiliations.  The  circumstances 
justify  the  overstepping  of  party  lines  in  the  administration  are 
ceedingly  rare ;  and  nobody  would  advocate  it  as  a  practice,  unless  he 
were  an  Independent  of  the  most  visionary  sort. 

Not  only  is  the  Cabinet  thoroughly  identified  with  the  political 
party  that  is  in  power;  but  it  also  changes  with  the  President. 
Although  Cabinet  rotation  began  earlier  than  the  application  of  the 
rotation  principle  to  the  mass  of  appointive  offices,  and  is  enduring 
longer,  its  definite  establishment  resulted  from  the  same  idea.  Its 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING.  285 

beginnings  were  accidental,  in  that  they  resulted  from  the  elevation 
of  two  Vice-Presidents,  Tyler  and  Fillmore,  to  the  Presidency,  at 
times  when  factional  divisions  were  so  accentuated,  that  the  change 
of  President  as  thoroughly  transformed  the  spirit  of  the  administra- 
tion as  if  there  had  been  a  change  of  party.  Buchanan  distinctly 
avowed  the  rotation  principle,  when  he  permitted  Pierce's  Cabinet 
to  retire  in  1857,  after  a  tenure  of  four  years.  At  least  one  voice 
had  been  raised  in  the  same  cause  in  the  Van  Buren  administration, 
when  Secretary  Woodbury  volunteered  to  quit  the  Treasury,  in  order 
to  avoid  criticism  for  not  allowing  his  fellow  Democrats  a  fair  chance 
to  hold  office.  Cleveland  apparently  made  an  extreme  application 
of  the  rotation  idea,  when  on  returning  to  office  in  1893,  after  an 
interval  of  four  years,  he  recalled  none  of  his  former  Secretaries. 
Were  it  known  that  any  of  them  desired  to  return,  this  would  seem 
surprising,  because  the  same  President  treated  other  rules  associated 
with  the  spoils  system  with  a  good  deal  of  defiance.  The  continuance 
of  Cabinet  rotation,  after  the  decline  of  the  ultra  democratic  con- 
ception of  public  office,  is  to  be  explained  partly  by  the  appreciation 
that  has  developed  of  the  importance  of  personal  compatibility  in  the 
working  of  the  Executive,  and  partly  by  the  notion  that  a  President 
is  his  predecessor's  echo,  unless  he  chooses  new  Secretaries. 

But  although  a  President  is  expected  to  form  a  Cabinet  that  shall 
reflect  his  individuality,  he  cannot  wisely  obtrude  his  private  friend- 
ships upon  official  considerations.  There  have  been  a  few  cases 
of  this  sort.  Jackson's  determination  to  be  personal  in  the  selection 
of  one  member  of  his  official  household  resulted  in  the  absurd  ap- 
pointment of  Major  Eaton.  Several  Presidents  who  have  been 
lawyers,  have  decorated  their  partners  with  Cabinet  honors  ;  Fillmore, 
Harrison,  Cleveland,  and  McKinley,  fall  into  this  list.  The  most  con- 
spicuous instance  is  McKinley's  elevation  of  William  R.  Day,  to  the 
Department  of  State,  after  that  gentleman  had  served  a  brief  noviti- 
ate as  First  Assistant-Secretary  with  Sherman  for  an  honorary 
superior.  In  Grant's  original  Cabinet,  the  personal  idea  predom- 
inated ;  and  it  was  at  no  time  absent  from  his  choices.  While  such 
appointments  provoke  unfavorable  comments,  for  failing  to  bring 
strength  to  the  administration,  none  has  ever  incurred  official  oppo- 


,286  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

sition.    Should  they  become  frequent,  however,  practical  obstructions 
would  be  brought  to  bear. 

The  President  has  always  been  constrained,  furthermore,  to  form  v 
his  Cabinet  according  to  a  geographical  code.  In  1795  Washington 
said,  in  the  course  of  his  search  for  a  Secretary  of  State  and  an 
Attorney-General,  that  it  had  been  his  aim  to  combine  geographical 
situation  with  ability  and  fitness.  And  the  formation  of  an  adminis- 
tration has  continued  to  the  present  time  to  occasion  much  talk 
about  Cabinet  geography.  The  code  has  varied  with  the  development 
of  the  country,  the  interests  of  particular  sections,  and  the  relation 
of  the  civil  service  to  party  politics.  In  the  beginning  the  purpose 
was  merely  the  identification  of  the  Executive  with  the  different 
quarters  of  the  Union.  The  desirableness  of  such  arrangement  in  a 
Union  of  States  had  been  suggested  in  the  Federal  Convention,  in 
George  Mason's  proposition  to  establish  an  Executive  council  of  six 
members,  two  from  the  East,  two  from  the  Middle  States,  and  two 
from  the  South.  Political  schemes  began  to  enter  into  the  geographi- 
cal distribution,  however,  so  soon  as  there  was  an  occasion.  As 
early  as  1801,  the  conciliation  idea  is  brought  out  by  the  liberal  rep- 
resentation in  the  first  Republican  Cabinet  of  Massachusetts,  a  Fed- 
eralist State.  And  a  special  recognition  of  political  power  is  present 
in  the  precedence  that  was  generally  accorded  to  the  four  great 
States  of  Virginia,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Massachusetts, 
over  the  other  States  in  their  respective  sections. 

Prior  to  the  political  changes  that  came  with  Jackson's  administra- 
tion, the  double  representation  of  a  State  was  not  seriously  objected 
to,  provided  that  portfolios  of  highest  rank, — and  there  were  three 
different  grades  at  this  time, — were  not  put  together.  Washington 
made  the  objection  to  a  proposition  that  Chancellor  Livingston 
should  succeed  Jefferson  in  the  State  Department,  Jefferson  retiring 
before  Hamilton  did,  that  to  give  the  State  and  Treasury  Depart- 
ments both  to  New  York  would  excite  a  newspaper  conflagration.1 
The  portfolios  were  both  of  first  rank ;  and  New  York  was  not  as  yet 
the  Empire  State.  Within  this  period,  eight  duplications  actually  oc- 
curred ;  but  every  one  of  them  resulted  from  assigning  the  Navy  De- 

1  Writings  of  Jefferson,  I,  256. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING.  287 

partment  or  Attorney-Generalship  to  a  State  that  possessed  a  higher 
Cabinet  office ;  and  both  of  these  portfolios  were  so  undesirable  that 
they  had  to  be  placed  where  they  would  be  accepted.  The  preponder- 
ance of  Virginians  in  the  first  administration,  that  State  possessing 
the  State  Department  and  the  Attorney-General's  office,  as  well  as  the 
Presidency,  is  one  of  the  indications  that  the  members  of  the  Presi- 
dent's council  were  not  definitely  determined,  when  the  appointments 
were  made.  Massachusetts  held  the  Vice- Presidency  and  the  War 
Office  at  the  time;  and  New  York  the  Chief- Justiceship  and  the 
Treasury.  But  the  singling  out  of  the  three  Secretaries  and  the 
Attorney-General  to  be  councillors  resulted  in  making  the  immediate 
administration  very  unequally  balanced. 

The  expansion  of  the  country,  the  democratizing  of  politics,  and 
the  great  controversy  between  North  and  South  developed  new  rules 
for  the  period  which  dates,  in  a  general  way,  from  Jackson's  acces- 
sion to  the  Presidency  to  the  secession  of  the  Southern  States  from 
the  Union. 

The  appearance  of  Clay  in  the  John  Quincy  Adams  administration 
in  1825  signalizes  the  admission  of  "  the  West  "  to  the  Cabinet  table. 
Jackson  included  two  Kentuckians  and  a  Tennessean  among  the 
minions  whom  he  placed  there ;  and  he  also  brought  in  the  important 
figure  of  Cass  from  the  North- West.  Though  Clay  never  appeared 
again  as  a  Cabinet  Minister,  Crittenden  took  his  place,  whenever  the 
Whigs  were  in  power ;  while  Ewing  of  Ohio,  represented  the  North- 
West  In  the  later  Democrat  administrations,  i853~'6i,  Cass  con- 
tinued to  represent  that  section,  once  in  person,  and  once  by  proxy. 
Prior  to  the  Civil  War,  no  State  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  fur- 
nished a  Cabinet  member,  except  that  Edward  Livingston  of  Louisi- 
ana was  one  of  Jackson's  later  Secretaries  of  State.  An  offer  was 
also  made  to  Missouri  by  Fillmore. 

The  guiding  principle,  however,  during  this  middle  period  was  to 
preserve  the  balance  between  the  slave-holding  and  the  free  States. 
The  retarded  enunciation  of  this, — for  it  appears  so  late  as  the 
accession  of  Van  Buren  in  1837,  coming  from  a  Virginian,  is  doubt- 
less due  to  the  fact  that  the  slave  interest  had  hitherto  felt  no  need 
of  it;  but  that  the  Southern  preponderance  in  the  Executive  was 


288  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

now  threatened  by  the  advancement  of  New  York  at  the  expense  of 
Virginia.  Henceforth  until  the  Civil  War,  the  rule  was  rigorously 
enforced ;  even  Lincoln  took  two  of  his  seven  Ministers  from  loyal 
slave  States. 

So  far  as  particular  portfolios  are  concerned,  the  greatest  signifi- 
cance has  attached  to  the  placing  of  the  Treasury.  From  the  passing 
of  the  Tariff  Act  of  1824  to  the  Civil  War,  Pennsylvania,  as  the  chief 
representative  of  the  protection  interest,  contested  this  portfolio  with 
the  planter  States  of  the  South  as  regularly  as  the  administration 
changed.  She  actually  furnished  five  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury 
during  this  period,  none  of  whom  had  very  much  except  locality  to 
recommend  them.  The  later  Democrat  Presidents,  Polk,  Pierce, 
and  Buchanan,  whose  administrations  were  identified  with  the  lower- 
ing of  the  tariff,  all  placed  the  Treasury  portfolio  in  the  South ;  but 
Polk  had  to  conciliate  Pennsylvania  with  the  Kane  letter.  Lincoln 
was  besought  to  assign  the  Treasury  once  more  to  the  Keystone 
State ;  but  preferring  Chase  over  Cameron,  he  awarded  it  to  Ohio. 

Under  the  spoils  system,  the  double  representation  of  any  State  in 
the  Cabinet  was  treated  as  a  political  anomaly;  and  this  idea  con- 
tinued in  full  force  until  the  accession  of  Cleveland  in  1885.  Seven 
instances  arose  during  the  interval  from  Jackson  to  Cleveland;  but 
four  were  emergency  cases,  and  three  resulted  from  General  Grant's 
naivete  about  civil  affairs  ;  all  were  of  brief  duration.  In  the  exigency 
of  secession,  Buchanan  called  Stanton  to  the  Attorney-Generalship, 
although  he  and  Black,  the  Secretary  of  State,  were  both  from  Penn- 
sylvania. However,  upon  the  death  of  a  Postmaster-General,  two 
years  before,  Buchanan  had  avoided  appointing  Stanton,  which  Black 
had  urged  him  to  do,  and  continued  to  give  that  office  to  the  South. 
A  more  interesting  case  occurred  under  Lincoln.  When  Hugh  Mc- 
Culloch  of  Indiana  was  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  John  P. 
Usher,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  but  not  a  man  indispensable  to 
the  administration,  resigned  in  order  to  relieve  an  anomalous  situa- 
tion. Lincoln  would  have  sacrificed  the  rule,  however,  in  order  to 
secure  a  necessary  man ;  for  he  had  offered  the  Treasury  to  Edwin 
D.  Morgan  of  New  York,  before  he  did  to  McCulloch,  though  he 
would  not  have  permitted  Seward  to  resign  in  consequence.  Grant 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING.  289 

startled  official  circles  by  making  assignments  of  this  sort  at  the 
very  opening  of  his  administration,  when  he  was  under  no  stress  of 
emergency.  Thus,  it  appeared  during  the  brief  incumbency  of  Wash- 
burne  that  both  the  State  and  War  Departments  were  to  be  filled 
from  Illinois.  In  the  shifting  that  ensued,  the  Treasury  was  assigned 
to  George  S.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  although  E.  Rockwood  Hoar 
of  the  same  State  had  been  appointed  Attorney-General.  The  ir- 
regularity caused  Judge  Hoar  to  delay  his  acceptance,  and  afterwards 
became  a  factor  in  his  retirement. 

Objections  to  double  representation  have  sometimes  been  extended 
to  the  assignment  of  a  Cabinet  office  to  the  State  that  had  furnished 
the  President.  It  is  said  that  Lincoln  was  decided  to  appoint  Norman 
B.  Judd,  his  political  and  personal  friend,  to  a  diplomatic  post  instead 
of  a  Cabinet  office,  by  the  fact  that  Judd  and  himself  both  represented 
Illinois.  And  the  story  is  in  keeping  with  the  caution  that  was 
exercised  in  forming  the  Civil  War  Cabinet.  Mr.  Elaine  objected 
on  this  ground  to  the  proposed  retention  of  Sherman  in  the  Garfield 
Cabinet,  although  an  identical  situation  had  existed  betwen  Sherman 
and  Hayes.  In  actual  practice,  Presidents  and  Cabinet  officers  have 
come  from  the  same  State  in  many  instances. 

When  the  Whigs  gave  place  to  the  Democrats  in  1853,  a  rule  was 
giyen  out  by  the  party  press,  that  a  State  which  received  a  Cabinet 
office  would  not  be  given  a  foreign  mission.2  And  Buchanan  de- 
murred about  accepting  the  office  of  Minister  to  England  on  the 
ground  that  Postmaster-General  Campbell  and  himself  were  both 
Pennsylvanians,  until  he  was  assured  that  his  acceptance  would  not 
jeopardize  the  sharing  of  his  friends  in  other  offices.3  The  ex-Sec- 
retary's behavior  is  not  entirely  free  from  suggestions  of  sulkiness. 

Since  the  Civil  Wrar,  the  geographical  complexion  of  the  Cabinet 
has  been  an  index  to  the  distribution  of  the  party  forces,  even  more 
than  before.  This  is  because  political  parties  have  been  more  com- 
pactly massed.  A  Republican  administration,  now  gives  the  place 
enjoyed  by  the  South  during  the  slavery  controversy  to  the  West, 
reserving  for  the  South  only  the  complimentary  recognition  formerly 

2  Fish,  The  Civil  Service  and  the  Patronage,  174. 
'Buchanan  MSS. 

19 


,290  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

accorded  to  the  newer  parts  of  the  country.  The  North-West,  with 
its  great  pivotal  States,  is  regarded  equally  with  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  New  England.  Moreover,  the  Treasury  portfolio,  more 
disputed  than  any  other,  has  become  especially  associated  with  this 
section,  out  of  deference  to  the  agriculture  of  the  country,  and  the 
commercial  interests  that  center  at  Chicago.  From  Chase  to  Mac- 
Veagh,  the  North- West  has  furnished  eight  Secretaries  of  the  Treas- 
ury, two  of  whom  have  been  members  of  two  different  administra- 
tions. Second  in  order,  as  a  Treasury  claimant,  stands  New  York, 
the  commercial  capital  of  the  country ;  but  the  discrimination  of  the 
law  against  Ministers  of  Finance,  who  are  themselves  engaged  in 
trade  has  several  times  told  against  her  candidates.  Furthermore, 
the  peculiar  relation  between  the  National  Executive  and  the  political 
organization  within  the  Empire  State  seems  to  give  to  the  latter  a 
special  claim  upon  the  State  portfolio,  although  the  practice  of  making 
Secretaries  of  State  out  of  presidential  candidates  militates  against 
any  definite  location  of  that  office. 

Cabinet  assignments  were  extended  to  the  Pacific  Coast  so  early 
as  1872,  when  President  Grant  made  George  H.  Williams  of  Oregon, 
Attorney-General.  This  did  not  occur  again  until  McKinley  ap- 
pointed Joseph  McKenna  of  California,  to  the  same  office  in  1897 ; 
but  the  Pacific  States  have  since  been  represented  in  both  the  Roose- 
velt and  Taft  administrations.  A  modern  Democrat  Cabinet  differs 
from  a  Republican  one  in  that  it  reverses  the  distribution  between 
South  and  West.  In  1885,  there  being  seven  portfolios  at  the  time, 
Cleveland  awarded  three  to  the  "  solid  South  "  and  only  one  to  the 
West. 

The  rule  against  the  double  representation  of  any  State  in  the 
Cabinet  has  been  greatly  relaxed  within  a  few  years.  This  tendency 
began  with  the  first  Cleveland  Cabinet,  which,  in  other  ways,  rather 
tightened  the  grip  of  party  rules.  In  forming  his  first  administra- 
tion, Mr.  Cleveland  assigned  the  Treasury  portfolio  to  Daniel  Man- 
ning and  the  Navy  to  William  C.  Whitney,  both  of  New  York,  which 
State  also  furnished  the  President;  furthermore,  he  appointed 
another  New  Yorker,  Charles  S.  Fairchild,  to  succeed  Mr.  Manning, 
when  the  latter  retired  two  years  later.  No  President  since  that  time 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING.  291 

has  entirely  avoided  duplications  of  this  sort.  Harrison  had  two 
Indiana  men  in  his  Cabinet,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  administration, 
John  W.  Foster,  Secretary  of  State,  and  William  H.  H.  Miller,  At- 
torney-General. In  his  second  administration,  Cleveland  again  had 
two  New  Yorkers,  Daniel  S.  Lamont,  Secretary  of  War,  and  Wilson 
S.  Bissell,  Postmaster-General.  McKinley  had  two  Pennsylvanians 
for  a  short  time,  Charles  Emory  Smith,  Postmaster-General,  and 
Philander  C.  Knox,  Attorney-General.  President  Roosevelt  outdid 
all  precedent  both  in  the  number  and  duration  of  such  appointments. 
For  almost  five  years,  Leslie  M.  Shaw  and  James  Wilson,  both  of 
Iowa,  sat  together  in  his  Cabinet,  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  respectively.  Within  this  interval,  Elihu 
Root  and  George  B.  Cortelyou,  both  of  New  York,  were  Secretary  of 
War  and  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  for  about  a  year ;  which 
duplication  was  renewed,  when  Mr.  Cortelyou  r centered  the  Cabinet 
in  1905  as  Postmaster-General,  and  Mr.  Root  as  Secretary  of  State. 
In  1907,  New  York  received  triple  representation  by  the  appointment 
of  Oscar  S.  Straus  to  be  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  Mr.  Cor- 
telyou being  at  the  same  time  promoted  to  the  Treasury  Department. 
With  Mr.  Roosevelt  himself  a  New  Yorker,  this  was  an  unparalleled 
massing  of  Executive  offices.  With  Mr.  Shaw's  retirement  from  the 
Treasury,  the  Iowa  duplication  disappeared ;  but  its  place  was  shortly 
filled  by  the  appointment  of  James  R.  Garfield  of  Ohio,  to  be  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  while  William  H.  Taft,  of  the  same  State,  was 
Secretary  of  War.  The  Taft  Cabinet  gave  double  representation  to 
Massachusetts  at  the  outset  by  the  appointment  of  George  von  L. 
Meyer  to  the  Navy  Department,  and  Frank  H.  Hitchcock  to  the  Post- 
master-Generalship. And  the  Cabinet  reconstruction  brought  in  the 
additional  cases  of  two  members  from  Illinois  and  two  from  New 
York. 

The  relaxing  of  geographical  rules  must  be  favorable  in  the  long 
run  to  securing  greater  ability  in  the  Cabinet  and  better  adaptation 
of  the  members  to  their  particular  offices.  But  the  discarding  of 
such  rules,  by  making  the  Cabinet  a  less  representative  body,  would 
impair  its  efficiency  in  another  direction. 

The  representation  of  political  factions  is  also  one  of  the  President's 


292  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

problems  in  establishing  his  administration.  The  demands  of  party 
chiefs  sometimes  run  into  the  dramatic,  though  the  public  is  usually 
denied  knowledge  of  such  affairs.  Nobody  has  played  the  role  of 
Cabinet  dictator  more  successfully  than  Samuel  Smith;  and  nobody 
has  assayed  it  with  greater  determination  than  Roscoe  Conkling  and 
Thomas  C.  Platt.  Presidents  have  not  often  submitted  to  dictation 
of  this  sort;  though  Madison  is  a  clear  example.  Public  sentiment 
supports  the  President  in  making  his  own  choices.  However,  when 
the  party  is  divided  by  great  personal  interests,  to  ignore  them  in  the 
Cabinet  would  jeopardize  the  influence  of  the  Executive  with  Con- 
gress. A  seriously  disintegrated  condition  is  sometimes  met  with  a 
so-called  "  coalition  "  Cabinet,  which  brings  together  the  chiefs  of 
the  opposing  factions  or  their  representatives.  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Lincoln,  and  Garfield  saw  fit  to  follow  factional  lines  very  closely, 
but  none  of  them  yielded  to  pressure  in  their  choices. 

The  incompatibility  between  Executive  office  and  a  seat  in  the 
Senate  is  a  restriction  upon  the  President's  power  to  secure  the  Sec- 
retaries that  he  desires.  In  the  Cabinet  reconstruction  of  1795,  the 
name  of  Richard  Potts,  Senator  from  Maryland,  came  up  between 
Washington  and  Hamilton,  in  connection  with  the  State  Department ; 
but  was  dismissed  with  the  question,  whether  it  would  be  wise  to 
weaken  the  Senate  at  that  time.  The  problem  that  was  encountered 
thus  early  is  a  constant  one  in  Cabinet  making.  One  of  the  common 
demands  with  which  a  President-elect  is  importuned  is  that  he  will 
find  places  in  the  Cabinet  for  men  whom  rival  Senatorial  aspirants 
wish  to  put  out  of  the  way.  President  Garfield  was  besought  to 
render  such  aid  both  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania.  And  there  is  no 
doubt  that  a  demand  of  the  sort  was  the  foundation  of  the  report 
that  went  out  in  November,  1908,  that  President  Taft  had  reserved 
a  portfolio  for  Theodore  Burton  of  Ohio.  The  only  instance  in  which 
a  President  is  known  to  have  used  the  Cabinet  for  such  a  purpose 
occurred  in  1897,  when  McKinley  assisted  the  election  of  Mark  A. 
Hanna  to  the  Senate  by  making  Sherman  Secretary  of  State. 

The  comparative  attractiveness  of  a  seat  in  the  Senate  and  a 
Cabinet  portfolio  has  been,  to  a  great  extent,  a  matter  of  personal 
preference.  The  names  of  Clay,  Oliver  P.  Morton,  and  Allison,  on  the 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING.  293 

one  side  are  matched  by  those  of  Webster,  Sherman,  and  Elaine  ~on~ 
the  other.  For  comparing  the  actual  draught  of  the  Cabinet  upon  the 
Senate  with  the  cases  where  portfolios  have  been  declined,  or  not 
offered  for  fear  of  such  results,  these  are  not  sufficient  data.  There 
is  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  draught  of  the  Cabinet  upon  the 
Senate  has  very  greatly  declined  since  1885.* 

From  the  forming  of  the  Jackson  Cabinet  in  1829,  to  the  com- 
pletion of  the  first  Cleveland  Cabinet  in  1885,  the  usual  order  was 
to  take  two  or  three  members  out  of  six  or  seven  from  the  Senate. 
There  is  no  direct  proof  that  this  was  a  conscious  rule;  but  special 
explanations  for  departures  from  it  are  easy  to  find.  Thus  Van 
Buren  did  not  make  a  new  Cabinet ;  Pierce  was  limited  to  Senators- 
elect  by  a  new  salary  act ;  and  Grant  was  ignorant  of  the  ways  of 
government.  Senator  Hoar's  criticism  upon  Grant's  Cabinet,  that 
it  was  not  drawing  sufficiently  upon  Congress  to  secure  the  requisite  v 
working  connection,  indicates  that  the  taking  of  a  part  of  the  Cabinet 
from  Congress  was  expected  at  the  time. 

But  the  feeling  about  this  seems  to  have  changed.  A  change  of  atti- 
tude towards  Cabinet  office  on  the  part  of  Congressmen,  and  Senators 
especially,  is  not  the  only  cause  of  this.  But  some  considerations 
which  make  Congressional  leaders  hesitate  to  enter  the  Cabinet  have 
more  weight  than  formerly.  The  increased  importance  of  the  social 

*The  extent  to  which  Presidents  have  taken  Senators  and  Senators- 
elect  for  Cabinet  officers  appears  from  the  following:  John  Adams  (1800) 
Samuel  Dexter;  Madison  (1814)  George  W.  Campbell;  Monroe  (1823) 
Samuel  L.  Southard;  John  Quincy  Adams  (1825)  James  Barbour;  Jackson 
(1829)  John  Eaton,  John  Branch,  John  M.  Berrien  (1831)  Edward  Livings- 
ton (1834)  John  Forsyth;  Van  Buren  (1838)  Felix  Grundy;  William  Henry 
Harrison  (1841)  Daniel  Webster,  John  J.  Crittenden;  Tyler  (1844)  William 
Wilkins;  Polk  (1845)  James  Buchanan,  Robert  J.  Walker; ^Taylor  (1849) 
John  M.  Clayton,  Reverdy  Johnson;  Fillmore  (1850)  Daniel  Webster,  Thomas 
Corwin;  Pierce  (1853)  Jefferson  Davis;  Lincoln  (1861)  William  H.  Seward, 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  Simon  Cameron  ( 1864)  William  P.  Fessenden ;  Johnson 
(1865)  James  Harlan;  Grant  (1876)  Lot  M.  Morrill;  Hayes  (1877)  John 
Sherman,  David  M.  Key;  Garfield  (1881)  James  G.  Elaine,  William  Windom, 
Samuel  J.  Kirkwood;  Arthur  (1884)  Henry  M.  Teller;  Cleveland  (1885) 
Thomas  F.  Bayard,  J.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  Augustus  H.  Garland;  Cleveland  (1893) 
John  G.  Carlisle;  McKinley  (1897)  John  Sherman;  Taft  (1909)  Philander 
C.  Knox. 


294  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

side  of  the  Cabinet,  while  being  an  added  attraction,  is  also  known 
to  have  been  a  hindrance  to  two  or  three  men  who  were  strongly 
marked  for  particular  portfolios  by  their  work  in  Congress.  A  more 
serious  hindrance  is  the  greater  uncertainty  of  Cabinet  tenure.  While 
a  degree  of  permanence  attaches  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  Cabinet 
office,  unless  it  be  opportunely  quitted,  retires  men  from  public  life. 
And  it  is  not  only  with  the  Senate  that  the  Cabinet  has  had  to  com- 
pete ;  for  it  has  always  been  liable  to  decimation  through  resignations 
to  accept  diplomatic  and  judicial  appointments.  And  the  rule  of  ro- 
tation has  added  new  force  to  the  objection  that  the  Cabinet  is  likely 
to  be  the  end  of  a  career.  A  few  cases  of  retention  by  Roosevelt  and 
Taft  from  the  Cabinets  of  their  predecessors  faintly  suggest  a  relax- 
ing of  the  latter  rule. 

The  relation  of  the  Cabinet  to  the  presidential  succession  at 
different  times  has  had  an  effect  upon  the  estimation  in  which 
Cabinet  office  was  held,  and  has  also  determined  whether  specific 
appointments  should  or  should  not  be  made,  especially  to  the  State 
Department.  Under  the  early  Republican  regime,  the  Cabinet 
was  the  immediate  stepping  stone  to  the  Presidency ;  and  the  public 
mind  was  even  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  fact  than  the  few 
instances  of  succession,  and  the  competition  of  other  candidates  justi- 
fied. It  was  this  consideration  that  precluded  the  advancement  of 
Gallatin  to  the  State  Department  in  1809.  It  was  this  again  that  de- 
termined the  appointment  of  John  Quincy  Adams  in  1817,  and  at  the 
same  time  prevented  the  promotion  of  Crawford.  Although  the 
contested  election  of  1824  pointed  to  a  more  democratic  order,  it  was 
the  political  efficacy  of  the  State  Department  that  moved  Clay  to  pre- 
fer it  to  the  Speakership.  Jackson  and  Van  Buren  excluded  presiden- 
tial aspirants  from  the  Cabinet;  and  Polk  avowed  the  exclusion 
principle,  but  enforced  it  very  imperfectly.  While  the  Whigs  did  not 
adopt  the  rule  of  the  Jackson  Democrats,  their  preference  for  military 
heroes  for  presidential  material  made  Cabinet  service  of  little  avail ; 
and  Clay  came  to  look  upon  the  State  Department  as  a  good  place 
for  shelving  Webster.  With  the  multiplication  of  presidential  aspir- 
ants, it  became  a  frequent  practice  to  put  unsuccessful  candidates  for 
the  nomination  into  the  Cabinet.  John  Quincy  Adams  had  set  an 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING. 


295 


example  in  1825 ;  and  Harrison's  course  in  1841  was  still  more  a  case 
in  point.  Candidacy  for  the  nomination  was  a  leading  consideration 
in  the  appointment  of  Seward,  Elaine,  and  Bayard  respectively,  to 
the  State  Department.  It  is  obvious  that  this  way  of  selecting 
Cabinet  officers  is  closely  related  to  the  principle  of  factional  repre- 
sentation. The  connection  between  Cabinet  office  and  the  presidential 
succession  has  never  been  obliterated  from  the  public  mind,  although 
its  influence  has  largely  faded  away  at  times.  Heads  of  Departments 
have,  from  time  to  time,  shown  a  candidacy  of  some  strength,  as 
Bristow  in  the  Grant  Cabinet,  and  Sherman  in  the  Hayes  adminis- 
tration. So  recently  as  the  calling  of  Mr.  Root  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment in  1905,  there  was  discussion  as  to  whether  he  was  not  to  be 
the  administration  candidate  for  the  Presidency ;  and  later  both  Mr. 
Taft  and  Mr.  Cortelyou  were  added  to  the  list.  Mr.  Taff  s  election, 
though  it  be  but  an  isolated  instance  of  return  to  the  old  Republican 
order,  will  probably  be  not  without  effect  in  commending  Cabinet 
service  to  ambitious  men.  It  has  never  been  seriously  proposed  to 
put  an  ex-President  into  the  Cabinet. 

The  foregoing  topics  lead  up  to  the  subject  of  the  sources  from 
which  Cabinet  officers  are  supplied.  The  American  Government 
knows  no  Ministerial  class.  Under  our  dual  system,  with  its  separa- 
tion of  Executive  and  Legislature,  it  is  impossible  that  any  particular 
department  of  the  public  service  should  become  a  reservoir  of  Minis- 
ters in  such  a  sense  as  the  Houses  of  Parliament  are  under  the  British 
Government.  The  regime  of  the  old  Republican  party,  being  a  time 
of  comparatively  long  tenures  and  of  high  prestige  at  least  for  the 
upper  Cabinet  offices,  affords  a  half  suggestion  of  the  English  way 
of  forming  a  Ministry.  But  Cabinet  rotation  has  been  unfavorable 
to  the  existence  of  any  limited  group  of  potential  Ministers.  Since 
the  Jackson  era,  the  appearance  of  a  Cabinet  officer  in  more  than  one 
administration,  whether  by  retention  or  recall,  has  been  unusual. 
About  eighteen  instances  can  be  enumerated,  not  counting  cases  of 
retention  by  accidental  or  reelected  Presidents.  The  Fillmore  Cabinet 
repeated  that  of  the  first  Harrison  in  the  State  Department  and  the 
Attorney-General's  Office;  and  the  Cabinet  of  the  second  Harrison 
repeated  that  of  Garfield  in  the  State  Department  and  the  Treasury. 


296  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Of  that  large  majority  of  Cabinet  officers,  who  have  had  some 
(  previous  training  in  public  affairs,  the  greater  part  have  served  the 
National  Government.  The  Cabinet  rolls  are  almost  equally  divided 
between  former  members  of  Congress  and  men  without  experience 
in  that  body.  Although  the  period  of  membership  has  been  too  short, 
in  very  many  instances,  to  secure  any  important  position  in  the 
working  organization,  the  Committee  Service  has  perhaps  outranked 
every  other  place  in  the  Government,  as  a  training  school  for  De- 
partment Heads.  The  most  conspicuous  connection  of  this  sort,  both 
for  the  number  and  the  prominence  of  the  Secretaries  furnished,  lies 
between  the  Treasury  Department  and  the  great  Financial  Com- 
mittees. Very  striking  examples  are  found  in  Gallatin  and  Sherman ; 
and  a  less  distinguished  group  includes  the  names  of  Crawford,  Mc- 
Lane,  Walker,  Fessenden,  Boutwell,  and  Windom.  The  diplomatic 
service  has  very  frequently  been  the  preliminary  to  Cabinet  appoint- 
ment ;  and  such  brilliant  Secretaries  of  State  as  John  Quincy  Adams 
and  John  Hay  have  had  an  important  part  of  their  training  there. 
Mr.  Hay  had  also  been  Assistant-Secretary  of  State. 

Immediate  promotion  from  within  the  Departments  is  an  important 
way  to  secure  heads,  very  important,  when  measured  by  the  number 
of  instances  in  which  it  has  happened,  but  less  significant,  when  cir- 
cumstances are  taken  into  account.  Two  Assistant- Secretaries  of 
State  have  risen  directly  to  the  headship,  William  R.  Day  under 
McKinley,  and,  for  a  very  brief  period,  Robert  Bacon  under  Roose- 
velt. In  the  Treasury  Department,  two  Assistant-Secretaries,  two 
Comptrollers  of  the  Treasury,  and  one  Comptroller  of  the  Currency 
have  risen  to  the  head;  the  cases  being  William  A.  Richardson, 
appointed  by  Grant,  Charles  S.  Fairchild,  appointed  by  Cleveland, 
Oliver  Wolcott,  appointed  by  Washington,  Walter  Forward,  ap- 
pointed by  Tyler,  and  Hugh  McCulloch,  appointed  by  Lincoln.  Five 
Assistant-Postmasters-General  have  been  similarly  advanced,  one  by 
Buchanan,  one  by  Johnson,  a  third  by  Grant,  the  fourth  by  Arthur, 
and  the  fifth  by  Taft.  The  Interior  Department  has  the  instance  of 
Assistant-Secretary,  John  P.  Usher,  which  occurred  under  Lincoln, 
and  a  somewhat  similar  case  in  the  transfer  of  James  R.  Garfield 
from  the  Commissionership  of  Corporations  in  the  Department  of 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING.  297 

Commerce  and  Labor  to  the  headship  of  the  Interior  Department  by 
Roosevelt.  The  Navy  Department  affords  the  case  of  the  promotion 
of  Truman  H.  Newberry  from  the  Assistant-Secretaryship,  also  in 
the  Roosevelt  administration.  Promotions  from  the  bureau  service 
and  other  subordinate  offices  would  swell  the  list.  It  is  a  striking 
fact,  however,  that  very  few  of  these  cases  have  been  original 
appointments,  and  that  some  have  been  mere  expedients  for  supply- 
ing vacancies  during  a  remnant  of  an  administration. 

Another  form  of  promotion  arises  from  the  changing  of  Cabinet 
officers  from  one  Department  to  another ;  since  this  shifting  is  almost 
always  upward,  according  to  the  order  of  rank  observed  in  the 
Presidential  Succession  Act  of  1886.  There  have  been  about  twenty- 
four  immediate  transfers  and  about  eleven  by  recall.  In  some  cases 
the  purpose  to  advance  an  officer  is  very  clear,  as  when  Mr.  Cortelyou 
was  raised  from  the  Postmaster-Generalship  to  the  Treasury  in  1907. 
But  in  others  geographical  rules  have  been  the  real  consideration. 
Thus  the  Head  of  a  Department  has  sometimes  been  transferred  to 
one  newly  vacated,  merely  to  fit  the  vacancy  to  an  appointee  from 
the  section  of  the  country  whose  representative  is  retiring.  A  clear 
illustration  is  found  in  the  repeated  transfer  of  John  Y.  Mason  of  the 
Tyler  and  Polk  Cabinets.  Mason  was  at  first  Secretary  of  the  Navy ; 
but  in  order  to  vacate  that  Department  for  George  Bancroft,  the 
chosen  representative  of  New  England,  Polk  advanced  Mason  to 
the  Attorney-General's  office  to  which  Bancroft  was  not  suited.  The 
purpose  is  made  the  clearer,  by  Mason's  return  to  the  Navy,  according 
to  previous  agreement,  when  Bancroft  resigned ;  whereupon  the 
Attorney-Generalship  was  tendered  to  two  lawyers  from  New  Eng- 
land, Franklin  Pierce  and  Nathan  Clifford,  the  second  of  whom 
accepted  it. 

There  are  several  reasons  why  promotion  has  been  a  comparatively 
unimportant  principle.  Before  the  creation  of  the  Assistant-Secretary- 
ship, which  preceded  the  Civil  War  by  only  a  few  years,  Department 
subordinates  were  not  ordinarily  men  of  sufficient  calibre  to  serve 
as  heads,  even  temporarily.  And,  in  the  second  place,  the  sub- 
ordinate service  has  not  been  permanent  enough  to  avail  very  much 
as  a  training  school.  Indeed  promotion  from  the  assistantships  and 


,298  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

the  bureaus  to  the  Cabinet  would  have  been  as  much  out  of  keeping 
with  the  most  democratic  conception  of  public  office,  as  the  long 
retention  or  reappointment  of  Ministers. 

The  Governments  of  the  great  States  have  contributed  much  to  the 
training  of  Cabinet  officers ;  and  have  especially  furnished  a  field  for 
attaining  the  requisite  political  standing.  Numerous  ex-Governors 
appear  on  the  Cabinet  roll,  distributed  among  all  the  Departments. 
Distinguished  examples  are  found  in  Marcy,  Chase,  and  Leslie  M. 
Shaw.  The  State  Judiciaries  have  contributed  many  Attorneys- 
General;  and  a  considerable  number  have  also  been  taken  directly 
from  private  practice  of  the  legal  profession.  Such  names  as  Roger 
B.  Taney,  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  William  H.  Evarts,  and  Richard  Olney, 
the  last  three  of  whom  were  also  Secretaries  of  State,  show  that  lack 
of  experience  of  the  National  Government  is  no  disparagement  to 
entering  the  Cabinet.  The  War  Department  has  had  a  number  of 
heads  that  have  had  military  training,  and  have  borne  the  title  of 
"  General."  The  names  of  Knox,  Armstrong,  Cass,  Rawlins,  Bel- 
knap,  and  Alger  suggest  themselves  in  this  connection.  Under  Sec- 
retaries of  this  type,  the  administration  of  the  office  has  ordinarily 
been  indifferent,  and  sometimes  notoriously  weak ;  while  the  efficient 
Secretaries  of  War  like  Stanton,  Root,  and  Taft,  have  been  men  of 
legal  training.  The  Navy  Department  has  very  often  been  filled 
from  private  life.  In  its  first  years  it  seemed  to  seek  merchants ;  and 
under  the  Jacksonians  it  became  associated  with  men  of  letters,  one 
of  whom,  George  Bancroft,  made  a  vigorous  administrative  officer. 
An  especially  varied  group  are  the  Postmasters-General,  who  include 
governors,  judges,  city  postmasters,  editors,  and  merchants,  with  the 
additional  character  of  political  manager  frequently  included. 

Party  services  can  hardly  be  denied  a  separate  place  as  a  qualifica- 
tion for  Cabinet  office.  This  practice  borders  on  the  unsavory  one  of 
using  Cabinet  portfolios  for  political  rewards.  In  such  cases,  there 
is  ordinarily  an  attendant  expectation  that  the  recipient  will  look  after 
the  political  side  of  the  administration.  An  early  example  of  such 
appointment,  and  a  very  conspicuous  one,  is  the  elevation  of  Amos 
Kendall  to  the  Postmaster-Generalship  by  Jackson  in  1835.  The 
suitableness  of  the  Post-Office  for  becoming  a  manager's  portfolio 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CABINET  MAKING.  299 

is  obvious.  The  recognition  of  party  services  was  very  noticeable 
in  the  formation  of  Cleveland's  first  Cabinet,  when  three  of  seven 
appointments,  that  of  Manning  to  the  Treasury,  Whitney  to  the 
Navy,  and  Vilas  to  the  Post-Office,  were  induced  by  political  activi- 
ties more  than  by  any  previously  demonstrated  fitness  for  Cabinet 
office.  Especial  criticism  attached  to  Harrison's  appointment  of 
John  Wanamaker  to  the  Postmaster-Generalship ;  because  it  was  re- 
garded as  a  reward  for  securing  campaign  funds.  Although  Mr. 
Cortelyou  became  Postmaster-General  in  the  Roosevelt  Cabinet, 
shortly  after  his  direction  of  the  presidential  campaign  of  1904,  the 
appointment  was  also  recommended  by  his  previous  incumbency  of 
the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor.  The  designation  of  Frank 
H.  Hitchcock,  manager  of  the  campaign  of  1908,  for  the  same  De- 
partment under  Taft,  was  also  a  promotion  as  well  as  a  reward. 

The  latest  tendency  in  the  selection  of  Cabinet  officers  is  to  increase 
the  proportion  of  men  who  are  primarily  distinguished  for  skill  in 
administering  large  professional  or  business  interests,  and  to  place 
such  men  at  the  upper  end  of  the  Cabinet  table  more  than  formerly. 
This  is  the  counterpart  of  the  falling  off  of  the  draught  upon  the 
Senate,  and  a  cause  rather  than  a  result  of  it.  Perhaps  the  tendency 
is  not  marked  enough  or  long  enough  continued  to  be  very  significant. 
Nevertheless,  the  preference  for  men  who  have  proven  their  admin- 
istrative ability,  over  those  whose  experience  lies  closer  to  the  par- 
ticular business  of  the  Departments,  is  one  of  several  indications  that 
a  new  stage  in  the  operation  of  the  Departments  has  been  reached. 

The  conformity  of  such  an  exalted  body  as  the  Cabinet  to  the  tenets 
and  rules  of  party  practice  has  had  important  results.  Early  in  the 
history  of  the  Government,  it  hereby  became  an  eminently  democratic 
body;  and  it  has  substantially  preserved  such  a  character.  Just 
because  it  has  undergone  a  democratizing,  the  Cabinet  has  fulfilled, 
the  more  satisfactorily  to  the  country,  that  conception  of  a  guarantee 
that  the  President  will  not  act  hastily  or  unadvisedly,  which  underlay 
the  agitation  for  the  establishment  of  such  an  organ  by  the  Consti- 
tution, and  which  has  called  out  remonstrance,  whenever  its  activities 
have  been  suspended. 


THE  CABINET  AND  CONGRESS. 

A  British  authority  on  political  science  was  recently  heard  to  say : 
""  One  of  the  most  difficult  things  for  a  Canadian,  as  well  as  for  an 
Englishman,  to  understand  in  the  United  States,  is  how  a  Govern- 
ment can  work  that  is  not,  by  the  presence  of  Cabinet  Ministers  in  the 
Legislative  body,  in  close  touch  with  the  law-making  and  money- 
granting  power  from  day  to  day.  That  it  does  work,  we,  of  course, 
see."  The  present  chapter  will  undertake  to  show  how  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  does  work  in  this  particular. 

The  principle  that  those  who  administer  shall  guide  in  the  making 
of  laws  is  effectually  prevented  from  working  into  the  structure  of  the 
American  Government,  as  it  has  done  in  England  and  some  Contin- 
ental countries.  The  modes  of  election  render  it  possible  for  Execu- 
tive and  Legislature  to  be  out  of  joint  politically,  though  party  activity 
renders  such  a  deadlock  a  rare  thing.  The  physical  separation  of 
these  two  great  functions  is  established  by  the  Constitution ;  for  it  is 
expressly  provided  that  no  person  holding  any  office  under  the  United' 
States  shall  be  a  member  of  either  of  the  Houses  of  Congress  during 
his  continuance  in  office.1  The  vote  on  this  clause  in  the  Federal  Con- 
vention had  no  dissenting  voices ;  and  in  the  debates  not  one  member 
distinctly  advocated  the  system  of  fusion  of  the  Executive  in  the 
Legislature.2  Men  were  looking  for  a  safe-guard  against  Monarchi- 
cal interference  and  Ministerial  corruption. 

In  its  outward  forms,  the  separation  has  been  enforced  with  much 
strictness.  The  Constitutional  provision  does  not  of  itself  exclude 
the  great  administrative  officers  from  personal  communication  with 
Congress,  or  even  from  the  privileges  of  debate.  The  President's 
Annual  Message,  under  the  Federalist  regime,  took  the  form  of  a 
speech  from  the  throne.  Both  the  President  and  the  Secretaries  of 


^rt.  I,  sec.  6. 

2  Elliot,  Debates,  V,  420-424,  503-506. 


301 


302  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

Foreign  Affairs  and  of  War  communicated  personally  with  the  Senate 
in  its  Executive  sessions,  during  the  first  few  months  after  the  Consti- 
tution went  into  operation.  But  the  sufferance  of  Congress  has  never 
extended  to  such  communication  at  a  Legislative  session.  The  sub- 
ject has  been  agitated  both  in  the  first  years  of  the  Government  and 
more  recently.  And  the  history  of  the  agitation  is  important  to  an 
understanding  of  the  real  spirit  of  the  American  Government. 

Alexander  Hamilton  succeeded  in  incorporating  into  the  Treasury 
Act  a  provision  for  either  written  or  oral  commmunication  from  that 
particular  Department,  as  Congress  might  direct.  But,  for  the 
reason  of  greater  convenience,  his  First  Report  was  ordered  to  be 
submitted  in  writing.  The  question  then  fell  into  abeyance  until 
the  session  of  1 792^93 .  And  the  practice  of  the  Government  was 
then  determined,  permanently,  as  it  proved,  by  the  defeat  of  a  motion 
to  summon  two  Secretaries,  the  Heads  of  the  Treasury  and  War 
Departments,  to  attend  upon  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  give 
information  that  would  assist  the  investigation  of  the  causes  of  the 
failure  of  General  St.  Clair's  expedition  against  the  Indians.  The 
immediate  animus  of  the  decision  was  that  the  matter  had  become 
a  party  issue,  the  Republicans  of  the  House,  taking  a  stand,  under 
Madison's  leadership,  against  Hamilton's  aggressiveness.8  The  matter 
was  scarcely  heard  of  again  for  three  quarters  of  a  century. 

While  the  Government  was  emerging  from  the  disorders  of  the 
Civil  War,  a  school  of  writers  sprang  up  that  denounced  the  existing 
methods  of  Congress,  and  advocated  a  closer  union  between  Legisla- 
ture and  Executive.  It  presumably  received  its  inspiration  from  the 
comparison  between  the  "  Parliamentary  "  and  "  Presidential  "  sys- 
tems of  Government  presented  by  the  English  publicist,  Bagehot,  in 
his  treatise  on  the  English  Constitution.  The  propaganda  was  almost 
entirely  an  academic  one ;  but  echoes  of  it  reached  Congress. 

The  exigency  of  the  Civil  War  had  already  reopened  there  the 
question  of  extending  the  privilege  of  debate,  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, to  Cabinet  officers.  February  8,  1864,  George  H.  Pendle- 
ton  of  Ohio,  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives  a  resolution, 
which  led  to  the  appointment  of  a  special  committee,  that  reported  a 

*  Annals  of  Congress,  III,  673-694,  696-701,  703-708,  711-712. 


THE  CABINET  AND  CONGRESS.  303 

bill  to  provide  for  admitting  the  Heads  of  Executive  Departments 
to  the  floors  of  the  Lower  House  for  the  purpose  of  taking  part  in 
the  discussion  of  measures  relating  to  their  own  Departments.  An 
extended  historical  argument  accompanied  the  draft  of  the  bill.  This 
report  pointed  out  that  the  exigencies  of  recent  times  had  made 
members  of  Congress  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  necessity  for 
speedy  and  accurate  information  from  the  Departments,  the  very 
words,  "  conscription,"  "  legal  tender,"  and  "  taxation,"  being  a  re- 
minder of  the  difficulties  recently  incurred.4  Fifteen  years  later, 
March  26,  1879,  tne  question  was  brought  up  again,  when  Mr.  Pen- 
dleton,  who  was  now  in  the  Senate,  introduced  a  bill  which  provided 
for  the  admission  of  Cabinet  officers  to  privileges  of  debate  in  both 
Houses  of  Congress.  On  this  occasion,  a  very  distinguished  com-* 
mittee  submitted  a  favorable  report.8  January  5,  1886,  the  question 
was  revived  for  a  third  time,  when  Representative  John  D.  Long, 
afterwards  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  introduced  a  bill  that  provided  for 
the  voluntary  attendance  of  the  Heads  of  Departments  upon  \  the 
House  of  Representatives.  None  of  these  measures  came  to  a  vote, 
though  the  first  two  received  an  eminently  respectable  support.  It 
was  made  very  plain  that  Congress  as  a  body  did  not  desire  a  more 
direct  connection  with  the  Executive  than  that  which  had  existed  ** 
from  the  first  years  of  the  Government. 

There  is  yet  another  chapter  of  events  bearing  upon  the  temper 
of  the  American  people  towards  the  fusion  of  the  Executive  in  the 
Legislature.  When  the  seceded  states  formed  a  government  in  1861, 
a  few  of  their  leaders,  consciously  imitating  a  feature  of  the  English 
Government,  which  was  then  furnishing  a  more  admirable  model 
than  it  had  done  three  quarters  of  a  century  before,  had  their 
Provisional  Constitution  so  framed  as  to  render  personal  contact 
permissible.  And  President  Davis  made  his  Cabinet  appointments 
in  such  a  way  that  one  half  of  the  Department  Heads  were  members 
of  Congress.  The  Permanent  Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States 
undid  the  arrangement  to  the  extent  of  forbidding  actual  member- 
ship in  Congress  to  Executive  officers ;  but  it  made  the  compromise 

*  House  Report  43,  Thirty-Eighth  Congress,  First  Session. 
6  Senate  Report  87.3,  Forty-Sixth  Congress,  Third  Session. 


304  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

provision  that  Congress  might  by  law  grant  to  the  principal  officer 
in  each  of  the  Executive  Departments  a  seat  upon  the  floor  of  either 
House,  with  the  privilege  of  discussing  measures  appertaining  to  his 
Department.  But  notwithstanding  the  approval  of  such  a  feature 
by  men  like  Jefferson  Davis,  Alexander  H.  Stevens,  and  Robert 
Toombs,  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  failed  to  grant  debat- 
ing privileges  to  Department  Heads.6 

Notwithstanding  the  temper  of  American  Legislatures  towards 
personal  union  or  fusion  with  the  Executive,  the  principle  that  law- 
making  processes  require  the  guidance  of  administrative  insight  has 
made  its  contribution  to  the  machinery  of  the  Government.  This  is 
found  in  the  high  development  of  unofficial  and  informal  means  of 
connection.  The  lack  of  Ministerial  leadership,  Congress  has  supplied 
to  it  through  the  Speaker's  office  and  the  Standing  Committee 
system.1  The  great  Committee  of  Finance  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, with  which  the  Standing  Committee  system  began,  was 
erected  for  a  barrier  against  the  administrative  officers.  For,  with  both 
Houses  comparatively  small  bodies,  the  Federalist  Secretaries  found 
personal  access  to  the  leaders  on  the  floors  far  too  easy  to  suit  Repub- 
lican sentiments.8  But  the  array  of  Committees  that  have  been  erected 
with  the  growth  of  Congress  are  recognized  avenues  of  approach.  To- 
gether with  the  irregular  procession  of  Congressional  leaders  that 
visits  the  White  House,  they  are  the  most  important  line  of  contac 
between  the  Executive  and  Legislature.  The  first  advance  is  from 
the  Committees'  side ;  and  they  are  jealous  for  the  Congressional  pre- 
rogatives. It  is  for  them  to  grant  and  not  for  Secretaries  to  demand 
audiences.  But,  when  a  Department  Head  has  a  plan  to  present, — 
and  it  is  only  in  their  separate  characters,  that  Cabinet  officers  are 
known  to  Congress  at  all, — he  can,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
secure  a  summons.  The  success  of  the  hearing  must,  of  course, 
depend  upon  a  variety  of  conditions, 

Very  worthy  of  mention  among  the  means  of  influence  resorted  to 

6  Journal  of  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  I,  182,  863; 
Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  Article  I,  section  6,  clause  2. 

7  McConachie,  Congressional  Committees,  Appendix  I,  351-353;  Memoirs  of 
John  Quincy  Adams,  V,  131,  227,  286,  303;  VI,  450. 

8  Henry  Adams,  Life  of  Albert  Gallatin,  157. 


THE  CABINET  AND  CONGRESS.  305 

by  the  Department  powers  are  their  social  attentions  to  members; 
On  this  subject, there  is  an  expression  by  Mrs.  Jefferson  Davis,  herself 
a  prominent  Cabinet  lady :  "  The  wives  of  Mr.  Pierce' s  Cabinet 
labored  in  their  sphere,  as  well  as  their  husbands.  We  each  en- 
deavored to  extend  hospitality  to  every  member  of  Congress,  of  both 
Houses,  at  least  once  during  the  winter — If  a  measure  was  to  be 
recommended  by  the  Administration,  the  chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  to  whom  these  recommendations  would  be  referred,  were 
invited  and  the  plan  was  informally  unfolded  to  them.  If  a  man 
was  dissatisfied  with  the  administration  and  not  personally  offensive 
in  his  disapprobation,  he  was  invited  to  breakfast  or  some  informal 
meal,  where  a  personal  explanation  was  possible."  ' 

Cabinet  officers  have  always  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  the  corridors 
and  floors  of  the  House  of  Congress.  The  diarist  of  the  First 
Congress,  William  Maclay,  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  refers  to 
this  frequently :  "  Mr.  Hamilton  is  very  uneasy,  as  far  as  I  can 
learn,  about  his  funding  system.  He  was  here  early  to  wait  on  the 
Speaker,  and  I  believe  spent  most  of  his  time  running  from  place  to 
place  among  the  members."  There  are  some  particularly  graphic 
reflections  of  this  practice  of  the  time  of  the  Polk  administration. 
An  opposition  newspaper  spoke  out  as  follows  on  the  passage  of 
the  measures  that  had  originated  at  the  Treasury :  "  The  Heads  of 
Departments  feel  that  it  is  important  to  keep  a  vigilant  watch  over 
the  doings  of  the  Democratic  members  of  Congress,  fearing  lest  some 
of  them,  obeying  the  dictates  of  reason  and  conscience,  might  break 
loose  from  the  trammels  of  party.  When  the  final  question  was 
taken  upon  the  Tariff  Bill,  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  and  Mr. 
Ritchie  of  the  Union,  all  were  present,  closely  scanning  the  sayings 
and  doings  of  the  members,  and  exerting  all  their  influence  to  secure 
united  action  on  the  bill.  It  is  stated  also  that  during  the  discussion 
on  the  Land  Graduation  Bill,  on  Saturday  in  the  House,  every 
member  of  the  Cabinet,  except  the  Attorney-General,  was  on  the 
floor,  and  expressed  in  various  ways  the  interest  they  felt  in  the  bill 
as  an  administration  measure,  and  their  presence  saved  the  bill,  or 
at  least  eked  out  its  existence." 30  Still  more  engaging  are  the  com- 

9  Jefferson  Davis,  Memoir  by  his  Wife,  I,  547.  10  Boston  Journal. 

20 


306  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

ments  from  the  administration  itself.  President  Polk  wrote  in  his 
Diary  in  the  session  of  1846- '47 :  "  It  was  agreed  that  each  member 
of  the  Cabinet  should  be  active  in  seeing  members  of  Congress  and 
urging  them  to  support  the  bill  to  admit  California  at  once  as  a  State. 
Buchanan,  Marcy,  and  Toucey  were  to  see  members  from  the  North- 
ern States,  Walker,  Mason,  and  Johnson,  from  the  Southern."  And 
he  recorded  a  little  later :  "  The  Cabinet  met  today ;  all  the  members 
present,  except  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  wrote  me  a  note 
stating — that  the  pendency  before  Congress  of  several  important 
measures  connected  with  his  Department  made  it  necessary  that  he 
should  attend  the  Capitol  and  watch  their  progress  through  the  two 
Houses." 

The  Congressional  sufferance  in  these  matters  has  been  attended 
by  a  good  deal  of  caprice.  In  the  session  of  i9O5-'o6,  a  story  went 
out  that  there  had  been  words  between  the  Secretary  of  War, 
William  H.  Taft,  and  a  member  of  the  Senate.  The  Senator  upon 
encountering  the  Secretary  on  the  floor,  asked  what  he  had  come 
there  for,  to  which  the  Executive  officer  replied  that  he  was  there, 
because  it  was  his  privilege  and  duty,  but  proposed  that,  if  the  Sena- 
tor had  scruples  about  such  connections,  it  would  be  well  for  him  to 
cease  from  his  visits  to  the  War  Office,  which  were  made  to  secure 
appointments  and  other  favors. 

There  has  always  been  a  great  deal  of  written  communication 
between  the  Executive  and  Congress.  The  Constitution  makes  pro- 
vision for  the  President's  messages;  neither  does  it  limit  them  to 
information  about  the  state  of  the  Union,  but  includes  the  recom- 
mendation of  such  measures  as  he  shall  deem  useful  and  expedient. 
The  Department  Heads  exercise  an  analogous  function,  in  making 
reports  to  Congress,  though  they  are  not  so  free  to  act  voluntarily. 

The  early  Congresses  showed  a  good  deal  of  captiousness  about 
the  matter  of  calls  and  reports.  But  it  was,  in  the  main,  an  attempt 
to  curb  the  aggressiveness  of  the  Treasury.  Three  spirited  debates 
were  provoked  by  motions  to  call  for  information,  or  to  refer  a  com- 
munication from  a  Secretary.11  And  one  of  these  was  a  twin  contro- 

u  Annals  of  Congress,  III,  437-452,  673-694,  695-701,  703-708,  711-722;  An- 
nals for  I793-J95,  pp.  1071-1080. 


THE  CABINET  AND  CONGRESS.  307 

versy  with  that  which  decided  in  the  negative  the  question  of  surrF 
moning  Secretaries  to  the  floors  of  Congress.  Attempts  were  made 
in  these  debates  to  enforce  a  distinction  between  allowing  Depart- 
ment Heads  to  furnish  needful  information  and  suffering  .them  to 
offer  advice.  It  is  particularly  interesting  to  discover  Madison,  who 
had  been  for  the  first  two  sessions  the  champion  and  mouth-piece  of 
the  Executive  power,  now  resorting  to  Infant  Government  arguments 
to  justify  his  earlier  stand,  and  maintaining  that  Congress  had 
reached  the  age,  when  guidance  by  the  Departments  was  superfluous. 
None  of  these  motions  for  a  call  or  reference  was  defeated,  the  ma- 
jority perceiving  that  the  practice  was  not  one  to  be  discontinued 
with  the  development  of  the  Government.  John  Quincy  Adams  states 
that  between  1800  and  1820,  the  calls  of  Congress  upon  the  Depart- 
ments  increased  five-fold. 

The  practice  of  providing  by  law  for  reports  from  the  Departments 
began  with  the  Treasury.  But  statutes  soon  appear  imposing  upon 
the  others  the  duty  of  reporting  such  matters  as  contracts ;  and  other 
subjects  were  duly  added.  The  general  report  from  the  Treasury 
addressed  to  Congress,  and  transmitted  at  the  opening  of  the  session, 
rests  upon  the  supplementary  Treasury  Act  of  1800.  The  practice 
of  including  a  sheaf  of  reports  from  the  other  Departments  along 
with  the  Annual  Message  from  the  Chief  Executive  appears  to  have 
been  instituted  by  President  Monroe.12  Taylor  added  a  report  from  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  upon  the  establishment  of  that  Department. 
Annual  reports  from  the  Attorney  General,  the  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, and  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  are  provided  for 
in  the  acts  that  establish  their  Departments.  No  general  report  is 
submitted  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  that  officer's  proper  subject 
being  reserved  to  the  President  in  his  Annual  Message.  Secretary 
Olney  made  such  a  report,  and  President  Cleveland  transmitted  it  to 
Congress  in  like  manner  with  those  from  the  other  Departments. 
But  the  action  did  not  establish  a  precedent. 

The  discrimination  between  information  and  advice,  and  between 
called  for  and  voluntary  communications,  that  frequently  agitated 
Congress  when  modes  of  intercourse  with  the  Departments  were  on 

12  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  President,  II,  207. 


308  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

trial,  looks  absurd  in  the  light  of  the  freedom  which  Cabinet  officers 
have  enjoyed  later,  and  which  has  been  stamped  upon  later  day 
statutes.  Thus  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  is  authorized  by  law  to 
report  on  "  special  subjects,"  not  only  when  the  President  or  one  of 
the  Houses  of  Congress  orders  it,  but,  whenever  he  thinks  that  the 
subject  in  his  charge  requires  it.  And  the  Secretary  of  Commerce 
and  Labor  is  required  to  make  such  recommendations  as  he  shall 
deem  necessary  for  the  effective  performance  of  the  duties  of  his 
Department.  However,  the  Senate  passed  reactionary  resolutions 
on  the  subject  of  voluntary  communications  so  recently  as  the 
session  of  1907- '08. 

The  privilege  of  sending  drafts  of  bills  from  the  Departments  to 
the  official  Congress  has  been  exercised  by  particular  Secretaries, 
but  not  distinctly  conceded.  And  the  latest  action,  like  the  earliest, 
is  to  prohibit  such  a  direct  initiative.  In  February,  1790,  Hamilton, 
acting  as  head  over  the  Postmaster-General,  addressed  to  the  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  bill  for  the  organization  of  the  Post 
Office.  As  the  Clerk  proceeded  to  read  the  bill,  a  member  objected 
on  the  ground  that  it  was  improper  for  Executive  officers  to  trans- 
mit bills  to  Congress;  and  the  objection  was  sustained.13  The  latest 
discussion  on  the  subject  occurred  in  the  Senate  in  the  session  of 
i9O7-'o8.  The  occasion  was  the  transmittal  of  communications  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  the  Acting  Secretary  of  War,  which 
enclosed  drafts  of  bills.  These  were  received  on  December  10,  1907, 
and  duly  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day,  the  reference  was  reconsidered  by  motion  of  Senator 
Aldrich;  and  an  extended  discussion  of  the  subject  of  communica- 
tions from  the  Departments  ensued.  The  communications  were  next 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Rules.  On  January  15,  Senator  Lodge 
reported  from  that  Committee  resolutions  against  receiving  any  com- 
munications from  Executive  officers,  except  as  specified.  The  list  of 
precedents  introduced  in  the  discussion  showed  that  the  submitting  of 
drafts  of  bills  had  been  going  on  at  least  since  1874;  and  that  such 
communications  had  been  referred  to  appropriate  Committees,  under 

13  Annals  of  Congress,  I,  Appendix ;  Hamilton,  History  of  the  Republic,  IV, 
69- 


THE  CABINET  AND  CONGRESS.  309 

the  order  providing  for  communications  from  the  Departments.  It 
would  seem  from  this  that  a  means  of  influence,  which  the  earlier 
Government  had  refused  .to  allow,  had  crept  in  as  a  part  of  the  in- 
crease of  inter-communication  that  began  with  the  Civil  War.  The 
result  of  the  discovery  was  that  the  Senate  passed  a  formal  resolution 
against  the  receipt  of  any  communication  from  Heads  of  Depart- 
ments, Commissioners,  Chiefs  of  Bureaus,  or  any  Executive  officers, 
except  when  authorized  by  law,  or  submitted  in  response  to  the  order 
of  the  Senate,  unless  said  communication  was  transmitted  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States.14 

A  good  idea  of  the  average  operation  of  the  Department  influence 
in  drafting  legislation  is  given  in  the  Manual  of  Congressional  Prac- 
tice, prepared  in  1890,  by  T.  H.  McKee,  at  one  time  Journal  Clerk 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Attention  is  herein  directed  to 
the  annual  publication  known  in  the  literature  of  the  Government  as 
a  List  of  Reports  to  be  made  to  Congress;  and  especial  attention  is 
called  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  entitled  Esti- 
mates for  Appropriations.  It  is  asserted  that  this  report  becomes 
the  basis  upon  which  the  Committee  on  Appropriations  and  other 
Committees  charged  with  money-granting  make  up  the  annual  esti- 
mates. The  Manual  further  asserts  that  it  is  the  uniform  practice 
of  the  Committees  of  both  Houses  of  Congress,  in  the  preparation 
of  bills  that  relate  to  the  administration  of  any  of  the  Departments, 
for  example  on  such  subjects  as  Public  Lands,  the  Indians,  or  Agri- 
culture, to  submit  the  proposed  measure  to  the  proper  Department, 
and  that  the  Executive  officer's  recommendation  is  usually  respected 
by  the  Committee.  This  reference  for  emendation  and  revision  is  j 
so  much  a  matter  of  course,  that  prepared  forms  of  transmission  to  * 
the  appropriate  Departments  are  a  part  of  the  material  of  certain 
Committees.15 

A  more  amusing  discussion  of  a  legitimate  Cabinet  influence 
comes  from  President  Polk's  time,  in  the  form  of  an  altercation 
between  the  Daily  Union  and  the  National  Intelligencer.  The 
dispute  began  about  the  Tariff  Act  of  1846.  This  was  distinctly  an 

14  Congressional  Record,  Vol.  42,  Ft.  I,  Sixtieth  Congress,  First  Session,  243, 
294-302,  714,  772. 
10  T.  H.  McKee,  Manual  of  Congressional  Practice,  290-292. 


3io  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

administration  measure.  A  tariff  revision  had  been  promised  in  the 
Democrat  platform  of  1844.  And  so  soon  as  the  new  administration 
was  inaugurated,  the  preparation  of  a  bill  was  begun  without  calling 
a  special  session  of  Congress.  Secretary  Walker  of  the  Treasury 
addressed  a  circular  to  the  great  manufacturing  concerns  of  the 
country  for  the  gathering  of  data.  His  course  was  ardently  com- 
mended by  the  Daily  Union,  which  was  the  administration  organ. 
And  the  desired  precedent  was  declared  to  be  found  in  a  circular 
issued  by  Secretary  McLane  in  1832.  But  the  National  Intelli- 
gencer, being  the  chief  organ  of  the  opposition,  warned  the  country 
that  it  might  well  look  with  jealously  upon  such  attempts  by  the 
Executive  to  originate  legislation,  and  especially  tariff  bills.  The 
supposed  precedent  it  ruthlessly  broke  down  by  discovering  that 
the  McLane  circular  had  issued  at  the  order  of  Congress.  But 
shortly,  both  sheets  found  occasion  to  change  their  tack.  The  follow- 
ing year  the  army  bills  lagged.  And  it  was  whispered  that  the 
Mexican  War  was  making  Whig  Presidents  too  fast  to  please  the 
existing  administration.  The  National  Intelligencer  laid  the  retarded 
legislation  to  the  charge  of  .the  War  Department.  But  the  Daily 
Union  exonerated  that  office  of  all  remissness,  by  remarking  that  it 
was  not  considered  the  duty  of  a  Department  to  prepare  bills  for  a 
Committee,  unless  requested ;  and  that  it  would  be  scarcely  respect- 
ful to  do  so,  inasmuch  as  the  Committees  were  entirely  qualified,  in 
case  they  approved  of  Executive  recommendation,  to  frame  the  proper 
provision  for  carrying  it  out. 

The  vocabulary  of  American  law-making  recognizes  that  there 
is  an  administrative  influence.  This  has  become  so  marked  that  a 
stranger  visiting  the  country  during  the  first  regular  session  of  the 
Sixty- First  Congress,  1909-' 10,  must  have  gained  a  wrong  impres- 
sion of  the  system  of  Government.  Newspapers  and  magazines 
spoke  constantly  of  "  administration  measures/'  coupled  the  name  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  with  conservation  bills,  and  traced  cor- 
poration legislation  to  the  Attorney-General's  authorship.  But  it 
cannot  be  asserted  that  the  administration  initiative  is  increasing. 

Along  the  whole  course  of  American  legislation,  a  few  measures 
stand  out  as  having  an  acknowledged  administration  origin.  Ham- 


THE  CABINET  AND  CONGRESS.  311 

ilton  was  the  obvious  agent  to  institute  the  series  of  acts  by^l 
which  the  National  finances  were  organized.  Congress,  after  bung- 
ling legislation  for  a  session,  appealed  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury so  soon  as  he  was  appointed.  And  plans  for  financial  organiza- 
tion were  forthcoming  in  the  famous  series  of  reports.  The  actual 
measures  were  introduced  through  the  medium  of  special  committees. 
So  soon  as  this  was  accomplished,  Hamilton's  great  influence  upon 
the  making  of  laws  was  at  an  end.  The  Republicans  with  their 
program  for  financial  reforms,  looked  as  naturally  to  the  Head  of 
the  Treasury,  Gallatin  being  their  acknowledged  master  of  finance. 
The  Tariff  Act  of  1846,  referred  to  above,  was  left  to  the  adminis- 
tration. It  seems  to  have  been  a  time  of  transition  between  modes 
of  preparing  such  bills.  And  the  most  obvious  Committees  for  such 
a  work  were  not  very  strongly  made  up.  A  very  interesting  illustra-  ' 
tion  of  the  dependence  of  Congress  upon  the  Executive  offices,  when 
measures  are  framed  that  require  technical  and  scientific  informa- 
tion, is  furnished  by  the  Mint  and  Coinage  Act  of  1873.  Preparatory 
to  framing  this  measure,  the  previous  coinage  laws  were  codified 
by  Deputy  Controller  John  J.  Knox,  who  was  afterwards  con- 
sidered by  President  Garfield  as  a  suitable  Head  for  the  Treasury 
Department.  Secretary  Boutwell  directed  the  work,  and  himself 
transmitted  the  draft  of  a  bill  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Com- 
mittee of  Finance,  John  Sherman,  with  a  statement  as  to  how  it  had 
been  prepared  and  a  strong  recommendation  that  it  be  passed.  Some 
new  features  were  grafted  onto  the  bill  after  it  reached  Congress.16 
With  the  McKinley  Tariff  Act  of  1890,  Secretary  Elaine  was  much 
concerned  at  the  Committee  rooms  about  the  securing  of  "  reci- 
procity "  provisions,  which  were  important  to  his  South  American 
policy.17  The  "  Logan  Act,"  of  the  early  years  of  the  Government,  re-  >— 
suited  from  the  suggestion  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  Timothy  Pick- 
ering. Webster,  while  Secretary  of  State  in  the  Tyler  Administra- 
tion, drew  up  the  measure  that  was  passed  to  put  an  end  to  the  dis- 
pute about  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Federal  Government  that  had  been  ^ 

18  Sherman,  Recollections  of  Forty  Years,  I,  463-467. 

"Gail  Hamilton,  Biography  of  fames  G.  Elaine,  682-698;  Stanwood,  James 
G.  Elaine. 


312  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

raised  by  the  McLeod  Case.  This  call  upon  the  Executive  is  inter- 
esting, because  the  administration  had  very  little  support  in  Congress. 
An  abnormal  co-operation  is  found  in  Secretary  Stanton's  participa- 
tion in  the  framing  of  the  Military  Reconstruction  Acts  and  of  the 
Military  Appropriation  Act  that  curtailed  the  President's  Authority 
over  the  Army.18  When  a  member  of  the  administration  is  recognized 
as  the  most  eligible  person  to  frame  a  particular  measure,  he  will  or- 
dinarily be  called  upon.  But  the  history  of  the  Executive  participa- 
tion in  lawmaking  will  not  permit  a  stronger  statement  of  a  Cabinet 
officer's  opportunities  to  initiate. 

More  important  than  the  isolated  instances  of  admitted  Executive 
origin  is  a  great  mass  of  legislation  that  is  a  fusion  of  the  minds  of 
administrative  officers  and  members  of  Congress.  Whether  the 
Executive  or  Legislative  is  the  more  active  element  must  depend 
upon  the  comparative  strength  of  Presidents,  Secretaries,  and  Con- 
gresses. But  it  can  be  categorically  asserted,  that  in  all  subjects, 
where  technical  information  is  required,  Congress  grows  more  and 
more  disposed  to  admit  the  influence  of  the  Departments,  as  the 
Civil  Service  becomes  more  permanent  and  expert.  The  real  place  of 
President  and  Cabinet  with  reference  to  law-making  lies  between  two 
extreme  views.  There  is  no  movement  towards  a  fusion  of  the  two 
great  branches  of  Government,  as  a  few  American  publicists  with 
Anglican  leanings  might  hope.  But,  neither  are  the  processes  of 
legislation  so  bungling,  and  so  unaffected  by  administrative  insight 
and  advice,  as  they  appear  to  English  critics,  with  their  predisposition 
to  hold  the  Cabinet  system  of  Government  superior  to  the  Presi- 
dential-Committee system. 

18  Gorham,  Life  of  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  II,  373. 


THE  CABINET  AND  THE  PRESIDENT. 

The  paramount  aspect  of  the  American  Cabinet  is  its  place  in  the 
Executive.  The  foregoing  survey  of  the  Administrations  has  devel- 
oped the  subject  of  particular  Cabinets  and  particular  Presidents 
beyond  that  of  ordinary  Executive  relations.  But  it  has  found  its 
own  justification  in  the  discovery  that  the  Cabinet  is,  to  a  very  great 
extent,  the  resultant  of  the  personal  forces  involved  at  any  time,./ 
probably  surpassing  every  other  organ  of  the  Government  in  the  play 
that  it  allows  to  personal  causes. 

No  concise  classification  of  Cabinets  is  possible,  and  none  whose 
lines  do  not  seriously  cross.  Taking  ability  and  actual  participation 
in  the  operations  of  Government  for  a  criterion,  those  that  stand 
highest  in  the  distance  are,  Washington's  Cabinet — with  its  original 
members — Jefferson's,  Folk's,  and  Lincoln's — in  the  form  made 
familiar  by  painter  and  engraver  in  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
scene.  We  leave  out  the  Monroe  Cabinet  with  hesitation,  but  on  the 
ground  that,  outside  of  the  State  Department,  the  Executive  was 
dormant,  when  tested  by  the  fully  awake  condition  of  Congress. 
The  level  sinks  lowest,  though  broken  here  and  there  by  a  more 
elevated  figure,  under  Jackson,  Van  Buren,  Taylor,  and  Grant.  It 
is  the  normal  situation  that  the  ability  of  the  more  important  Depart- 
ment Heads  shall  be  at  least  commensurate  with  that  of  the  Presi- 
dent; this  is  induced  by  political  necessity,  if  nothing  else.  There 
is  a  common  type  of  Cabinet  that  masses  its  strength  in  the  Secretary 
of  State,  but,  under  the  Presidential  System  of  Government,  the 
Executive  influence  is  best  sustained,  where  there  is  less  disparity 
among  Department  Heads. 

Taking  the  relative  influence  of  Cabinet  and  President  for  a  cri- 
terion, at  one  extreme,  stands  the  Cabinet  regency  with  which  the 
Buchanan  Administration  went  out  of  office,  and  at  the  other  the 
quasi-military  regimen  of  Jackson  and  Grant,  under  which  Secre- 
taries were  handled  more  like  a  General's  orderlies  than  high  civil 


314  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

officials.  Between  these  there  is  a  normal  order,  though  it  is  not 
very  rigidly  defined.  Officers  with  the  talents  and  rank  of  Depart- 
ment Heads  command  a  discretion  that  the  Chief  Executive  does  not 
interrupt,  unless  serious  disagreement  arises.  And  yet  occasions 
for  the  assertion  of  the  Presidential  authority  are  too  frequent  for 
it  to  fall  into  abeyance.  There  are  comments  on  this  subject  by 
two  ex- Presidents,  Hayes  and  Benjamin  Harrison,  which  look  at  the 
matter  from  its  opposite  ends.  Mr.  Hayes,  who  by  the  way,  had  the 
abler  Cabinet,  makes  a  strong  statement  of  the  President's  mastery, 
and  the  Secretary's  subordination ;  *  while  Harrison  states  in  larger 
terms  the  Secretary's  freedom  from  interference.2 

American  Cabinet  officers  are  not  Ministers  in  the  sense  of  the 
Constitutional  Monarchies  of  Europe.  It  is  chiefly  by  their  responsi- 
bility to  the  President,  and  their  exclusion  from  personal  inter- 
course with  Congress,  that  they  fall  short  of  that  character.  The 
Secretary  of  State  approaches  it  more  nearly  than  his  colleagues. 
For,  while  the  President  is  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  by  the  Con- 
stitution, he  has  often  found  it  expedient  to  devote  his  activities  to 
homelier  matters,  and  adopt  as  his  own  the  ideas  of  his  exalted 
subordinate.  Such  Secretaries  as  John  Quincy  Adams,  Webster, 
Seward,  and  Hay  have  originated  and  worked  out  a  very  important 
part  of  the  diplomatic  achievements  of  the  Government.  Still  the 
President  on  occasion  acts  upon  his  own  inspiration,  and  even  in- 
dependently of  advice.  Very  fresh  and  convincing  are  some  of  the 
examples.  In  the  decision  to  demand  the  Philippine  Islands,  at  the 
peace  negotiations  betwen  the  United  States  and  Spain,  President 
McKinley  proceeded  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  Secretary  Hay.3  And 
the  American  intervention  in  the  negations  between  Japan  and  Rus- 
sia has  had  distinguished  recognition  as  President  Roosevelt's  own 
act. 

The  Secretary  of  State  enjoys  a  semi-fictitious  headship  over  the 
Cabinet.  To  trace  this  to  its  origin,  the  earliest  incumbent  of  the 
office,  Jefferson,  has  put  on  record  that  it  held  first  place,  by  the 

1  Stevens,  Sources  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  167,  Footnote. 
a  Harrison,  This  Country  of  Ours,  105,  et  seq. 
8  Foster,  Diplomatic  Memoirs,  II,  257. 


THE  CABINET  AND  THE  PRESIDENT.  315 

President's  ranking,  from  the  outset,  though  the  source  of  this  state- 
ment throws  it  open  to  suspicion  of  self-glorification.  He  represents 
Washington  as  saying,  with  regard  to  a  proposition  to  put  Governor 
Johnson  of  Maryland  over  the  State  Department  temporarily,  and 
afterwards  transfer  him  to  the  Treasury,  that  men  do  not  like  to 
go  from  a  higher  Department  to  a  lower  one.4  But  during  the  early 
Republican  period,  the  distinction  came  to  be  very  generally  recog- 
nized. In  1806,  John  Randolph,  speaking  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, referred  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  as  the  "  Head 
of  the  second  Department,"  though  Wilson  Gary  Nicholas,  writing 
to  Gallatin  in  1809,  of  the  proposed  transfer  from  the  Treasury  to 
the  State  Department,  said  that  he  had  been  for  eight  years  in  an 
office  "  of  equal  dignity  and  of  greater  trust  and  importance." r  Two 
years  after  the  opening  of  the  Monroe  Administration,  John  Quincy 
Adams,  in  his  consciousness  of  the  political  prestige  attached  to  his  of- 
fice, noted  in  his  Diary  that  a  general  impression  now  pervaded  the 
country  that  a  higher  consideration  was  due  to  the  State  Department 
than  to  the  others,  and  that  in  all  legislative  acts,  this  was  now  named 
first  and  the  Treasury  second.6  The  name  Premier  occasionally  used 
in  unofficial  parlance,  was  first  applied,  so  far  as  we  have  noticed,  to 
Webster,  at  the  time  when  Tyler  was  breaking  with  the  Harrison 
Cabinet. 

As  an  idea  or  sentiment,  the  primacy  of  the  State  Department 
has  undeniable  force.  It  causes  the  portfolios  to  be  reserved  for  the 
most  statesmanlike  talents  and  the  strongest  public  character  that 
a  President  can  secure  in  his  assistants.  Sometimes  it  is  the  first 
portfolio  to  be  assigned,  and  the  prospective  incumbent  is  allowed 
materially  to  assist  in  forming  the  rest  of  the  administration.  But 
so  far  as  the  processes  of  Government  are  concerned,  the  superiority 
eludes  definition.  Both  an  ex-President,  Benjamin  Harrison,  and 
an  ex- Secretary  of  State  and  ambassador,  John  W.  Foster,  have  made 
it  subject  of  comment.  But  neither  of  these  gentlemen  could  point 
to  any  advantages  enjoyed  by  the  Secretary  of  State  over  his  col- 

*  Writings  of  Jefferson,  I,  258,  Anas,  August  6,  1793. 
5  Henry  Adams,  Life  of  Albert  Gallatin,  389. 

*  Memoirs  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  IV,  297. 


316  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

leagues,  other  than  a  more  closely  guarded  confidence  with  the  Presi- 
dent, rank  in  the  succession  next  after  the  Vice-President,  and  cere- 
monial precedence.7  Before  regular  Cabinet  days  were  observed,  the 
Secretary  of  State  was  often,  if  not  customarily,  the  President's  sum- 
moner.  There  has  been  an  occasional  exception  to  the  recognition  of 
superiority  in  this  Department.  When  the  Hayes  Cabinet  was  being 
formed,  it  was  said  that  no  priority  was  considered  to  attach  to  it.8 
And  the  issue  proved  that  Mr.  Evarts  did  not  impress  himself 
upon  that  administration  proportionately  to  his  high  standing 
as  a  Constitutional  advocate.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  Garfield 
Cabinet  was  being  formed,  Mr.  Elaine,  and  his  family  for  him,  en- 
tertained a  very  large  idea  of  the  headship  belonging  to  the  State 
Department.8 

\  The  Treasury  has  receded  very  far  from  the  character  that  Hamil- 
ton*" assumed  and  that  Gallatin  had  thrust  upon  him.  The  office 
of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  not  realized  the  possibilities 
that  were  thrown  about  it  by  the  early  statutes;  but  has  come  to 
share  the  role  of  Minister  of  Finance  with  the  Chairmen  of  the 
great  Financial  Committees  of  Congress,  especially  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  In  the  factional  rivalries  of  Cabinet  making,  the 
Treasury  portfolio  has  been  more  fiercely  contested  than  any  other. 
But  desire  to  command  the  office  does  not  find  its  explanation  in 
power  to  frame  the  fiscal  and  commercial  policies  of  the  country. 
The  first  incentive  is  opportunity  for  influence  in  the  distribution  of 
the  patronage ;  and  a  second,  the  fact  that  the  commercial  and  fiscal 
regulations  of  the  Government  depend  a  good  deal  upon  the  spirit 
in  which  they  are  administered.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is 
at  least  a  great  administrative  officer.  Indeed  these  are  the  considera- 
tions that  cause  Cabinet  appointments  in  general  to  be  received  with 
interest,  whole  Cabinets  much  more  than  the  changes  that  occur 
separately.  Political  shading  comes  first.  But  beyond  .that,  an  index 
to  the  President's  policy  in  some  matter  is  frequently  read  in  the 

7  Harrison,    This    Country    of    Ours;    Foster ,  A    Century    of    American 
Diplomacy. 

8  Reminiscences  of  Carl  Schurz,  III,  374. 

8  Gail  Hamilton,  Biography  of  James  G.  Elaine,  530. 


THE  CABINET  AND  THE  PRESIDENT.  317 

placing  of  a  man  who  stands  for  a  particular  idea,  where  he  can 
carry  it  out  in  administration.^ 

Characterization  of  the  Cabinet  on  a  chronological  basis  traces  a 
very  fluctuating  line.  Furthermore,  the  line  shows  no  advance- 
ment, beyond  the  natural  results  of  increase  in  the  size  of  Gov- 
ernment operations.  Growth  there  has  been,  but  no  development  of 
function.  There  are  two  principal  causes  of  this.  One  is  the  fact 
that  Congress  has  preserved  its  separateness  from  the  Executive 
rigidly  and  persistently ;  the  other,  that  the  Presidency  has  developed 
to  the  disparagement  of  the  Cabinet. 

In  the  first  place,  the  President  has  exercised  the  powers  of  ap- 
pointment and  removal  with  an  energy  far  beyond  the  expectation 
of  those  who  conveyed  them  to  him.  And  he  has  made  them  an 
instrument  for  enforcing  his  will  over  his  official  advisers.  TJie 
removal  power  was  applied  to  Cabinet  office  very  early.  And  by  the 
sharpening  that  it  received  of  the  spoils  system  and  rotation  prin- 
cipal, the  conception  of  the  President's  personal  ownership  of  the 
Cabinet  was  carved  out.  With  this  notion  in  men's  minds,  the  right 
to  dismiss  Secretaries  has  been  conceded  to  the  President  much  more 
unreservedly  than  before.  It  has  always  been  subject  to  practical 
limitations,  especially  political  expediency.  Excessive  shuffling  of 
portfolios  remains  a  matter  of  criticism.  But  the  present  day  cavil- 
ing of  newspaper  editors  is  a  mild  substitute  for  the  aspersions  upon 
the  President  to  which  deposed  Secretaries  formerly  resorted,  and  the 
acrimonious  discussion  that  ensued. 

In  dealing  with  such  high  officers  as  Department  Heads,  the 
removal  power  has  been  very  delicately  applied.  Technically  there 
are  only  two  removals  in  the  history  of  the  Cabinet — the  dismissal 
of  Pickering  by  John  Adams,  and  that  of  Duane  by  Jackson, — if  it 
be  held  that  the  retirement  of  Stanton  was  effected,  not  by  the  Presi- 
dent's prime  order  of  dismissal,  but  by  the  Secretary's  resignation 
after  the  failure  of  the  impeachment  of  the  President  on  that  issue. 
But  virtual  removals,  couched  in  the  polite  phrases  of  resignation 
and  acceptance,  are  numerous,  probably  more  so  than  anybody 
knows,  since  there  may  well  be  cases,  in  which  retiring  Cabinet 
officers  have  succeeded  to  second  or  third  class  diplomatic  posts,  or 


318  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

to  inferior  judgeships,  without  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  public 
as  to  whether  the  change  was  more  desired  by  Secretary  or 
President. 

The  power  has  been  applied  for  a  variety  of  purposes.  It  was 
put  into  operation,  in  the  first  place,  as  a  penalty  for  insubordination, 
when  John  Adams  dismissed  Pickering  and  McHenry.  During  the 
troubles  of  Madison's  administration,  especially  the  War  of  1812, 
incompetency  was  the  great  cause  of  the  many  dismissals  from  the 
Cabinet.  Indeed  the  Mexican  War  is  the  only  one  in  which  the 
United  States  has  been  engaged,  that  has  not  discovered  that  the 
Secretaries  charged  with  the  administration  of  the  defences  were  at 
their  best  in  time  of  peace.  In  1862,  Cameron  had  to  be  dismissed ; 
and  in  1898,  the  Alger  case  arose.  Jackson  ridded  himself  of 
McLane  and  Duane,  because  their  theory  of  the  powers  of  their  ofKce 
clashed  with  his.  The  removal  of  Postmaster-General  Blair  by 
Lincoln  was  a  presidential  campaign  measure.  And  in  the  period  of 
unsavory  politics  that  set  in  after  the  Civil  War,  Cabinet  removals 
for  political  ends  were  common.  Johnson  deserves  credit  that  he 
has  never  received  for  refusing  to  have  his  administration  unmade 
and  remade  to  suit  the  demands  of  the  party  managers.  But  Grant 
freely  permitted  the  manipulation  of  his  council  board ;  and  such 
figures  as  Ebenezer  R.  Hoar,  Jacob  D.  Cox,  Marshall  Jewell,  and 
Benjamin  Bristow  were  made  to  give  place  to  men  who  would 
exploit  the  political  resources  of  the  Departments  more  acceptably. 

The  President's  power  to  appoint  his  own  Secretaries  is  subject 
to  various  political  rules,  and  to  the  Constitutional  check  of  confir- 
mation by  the  Senate.  The  first  of  these  limitations  is  the  more 
seriously  felt.  Geographical  and  kindred  considerations  sometimes 
exclude  men  whom  the  President  would  otherwise  place  over  Depart- 
ments. The  ability  of  the  Cabinet,  and  the  adaptation  of  members  to 
their  portfolios  is  impaired  by  such  restrictions.  But  the  field  for 
choice  is  not  so  much  narrowed  that  the  President  is  constrained  to 
take  incapable  men,  or  men  that  are  likely  to  prove  intractable.  Some 
of  the  rules  that  have  grown  out  of  the  spoils  system  have  been 
to  the  President's  advantage  in  his  relations  to  his  Cabinet. 

The  possibilities  of  the  Senatorial  check  are  much  greater  than 


THE  CABINET  AND  THE  PRESIDENT. 


319 


the  actual  results.  In  the  early  years  of  the  Government,  whenever 
there  was  change  of  administration  with  change  of  principles,  there 
were  fears,  if  for  any  reason  the  party  majority  in  the  Senate  was 
Uncertain,  that  the  confirmation  of  the  Cabinet  would  be  made  an 
occasion  for  a  party  vote.  Expedients  for  averting  the  danger  were 
sought  by  both  Jefferson  and  Jackson.  An  incoming  Cabinet  has 
occasionally  been  opposed  by  resistance  to  some  particular  mem- 
ber, in  the  form  of  delay,  or  a  small  adverse  vote.  But  only  once 
has  an  entire  Cabinet  slate  been  obstructed.  And  this  was  a 
sequel  to  the  doubtful  Hayes-Tilden  election,  and  a  manifestation 
of  factional  disaffection.  The  intervention  of  public  opinion  had  a 
salutary  effect.  Four  years  later,  President  Garfield  ventured  to 
appoint  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  opposition  to  the  persistent 
demands  of  Senator  Conkling  and  his  faction,  and  the  appointment 
was  confirmed  without  delay,  though  the  filling  of  one  of  the  great 
offices  within  the  Department  precipitated  a  few  weeks  later  a  mem- 
orable struggle  for  the  rights  of  Senators.  At  the  next  change  of 
administration,  a  Republican  Senate  confirmed  a  Democrat  Cabinet 
for  President  Cleveland.  A  new  administration  has  a  strong  assur- 
ance of  a  fair  trial  under  all  circumstances. 

The  reconstruction  of  Cabinets  has  been  more  seriously  hampered 
than  their  inauguration,  because  change  of  Secretaries  has  frequently 
been  a  means  of  carrying  out  some  purpose  that  has  aroused  oppo- 
sition. In  Madison's  administration,  the  changes  fell  foul  of  jeal- 
ousy over  the  management  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  the  political 
rivalry  between  the  Northern  States  and  Virginia.  Jackson  invited 
opposition  in  the  first  place  by  breaking  with  Calhoun,  the  Vice- 
President,  and  later  by  his  anti-bank  policy.  He  was  able,  however, 
to  plough  around  it  by  clever  use  of  his  vacation  powers.  Tyler's 
difficulties  with  Cabinet  appointments  were  largely  of  a  personal 
nature.  Three  times  the  Senate  has  prevented  Cabinet  nominees 
from  taking  their  seats.  And  three  times  has  it  unseated  officers 
who  had  been  installed  at  the  Cabinet  table  during  its  vacation.  It 
is  known  that  its  power  to  reject  has  on  a  few  occasions  prevented 
Cabinet  nominations.  But  the  proportion  of  cases  in  which  the 
Senate  has  asserted  an  effective  opposition  is  very  small. 


320  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

It  is  a  conclusive  commentary  upon  the  importance  of  the  powers 
of  appointment  and  removal  to  the  ordering  of  the  Executive,  that 
they  have  been  the  centre  of  attack  in  every  movement  on  the  part 
of  Congress  to  put  a  curb  on  the  Presidency.10  In  the  earlier  Republi- 
can period,  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  was  proposed  that 
should  take  the  power  of  appointing  all  Cabinet  officers  away  from 
the  President,  and  convey  it  to  the  two  Houses  of  Congress.  And  a 
second  proposition  of  the  sort  was  brought  up  that  contemplated  the 
single  Department  of  the  Treasury.  Then  came  a  series  of  efforts  in 
the  same  direction  that  were  provoked  by  some  of  the  memorable 
quarrels  between  President  and  Congress.  Jackson's  assertion  of 
authority  over  the  Treasury  set  in  motion  a  series  of  propositions, 
which  were  brought  forward  by  Clay  in  the  Senate,  and  by  a  member 
of  his  delegation  in  the  Lower  House.  Tyler's  vetoes  called  forth  a 
renewal  of  these  propositions,  Clay  being  again  the  protagonist.  The 
actual  infringement  upon  Johnson's  power  to  control  his  Cabinet  is 
matter  of  common  knowledge.  A  few  days  after  the  Cabinet  proviso 
of  the  famous  Tenure-of-Office  Act  was  repealed,  a  proposition  was 
introduced  to  continue  some  restriction  of  the  sort  by  Constitutional 
amendment.  The  limitation  of  the  President's  powers  of  appoint- 
ment and  removal,  so  far  as  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  are  con- 
cerned, has  not  appealed  to  the  sober  judgment  either  of  Congress 
or  the  country.  But  on  the  contrary,  all  plans  for  Civil  Service 
Reform  have  retained  and  emphasized  the  immediate  control  by  the 
President  of  his  official  advisers. 

It  is  a  matter  of  some  consequence  that  the  Cabinet  has  grown  from 
four  members  to  nine,  but  it  is  of  very  little  moment,  compared  with 
the  fact  that  not  a  single  addition  has  been  made  at  variance  with 
the  rule  of  removability  by  the  Chief  Executive.  The  Vice-President 
has  not  been  admitted  to  the  Executive  Councils,  although  the  sug- 
gestion is  sometimes  heard  to  give  him  something  more  to  do  than 
handle  the  gavel  in  the  Senate  by  making  him  a  sort  of  Minister 
without  a  portfolio. 

In  the  second  place,  it  has  been  detrimental  to  the  freedom  of 
Cabinet  officers,  and  indirectly  to  the  powers  of  the  Cabinet  itself, 

"Ames,  Amendments  to  the  Constitution,  131-138. 


THE  CABINET  AND  THE  PRESIDENT.  321 

that  the  Presidency  has  developed  an  almost  unlimited  power  of 
direction  over  the  array  of  business  that  Congress  imposes  upon  the 
Departments  by  specific  statute.  The  Constitutional  grant  of  Execu- 
tive power  has,  in  a  sense,  its  "  elastic  clause."  And  the  prevailing 
construction  of  the  provision  that  the  President  shall  see  that  the 
laws  are  faithfully  executed,  is  the  one  most  favorable  to  that  branch 
of  the  Government.  The  decisive  battle  over  the  President's  adminis- 
trative powers  was  fought  in  the  Jackson  era.  The  particular  form 
in  which  the  narrower  view  of  the  Presidency  expressed  itself  at  that 
time  was  that  the  Departments  are  divided  into  two  groups,  of 
radically  different  nature.  It  was  held  that  the  Treasury  and  Post 
Office  were  agencies  for  the  performance  of  functions  that  lay  by 
Constitutional  arrangement  within  the  ordering  of  Congress,  and 
.were  not  Executive  Departments  at  all.  The  State,  War,  and  Navy 
Departments,  on  the  other  hand,  correspond,  in  part  of  their  extent, 
to  fields  that  lay  within  the  powers  of  the  President,  as  enumerated 
in  the  Constitution.  A  very  clear-cut  statement  of  this  doctrine 
is  secured  by  combining  Clay's  arraignment  of  Jackson  in  the  Senate 
for  taking  into  his  own  hands  the  law  that  clothed  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  with  a  discretion  about  the  deposit  of  the  Government 
funds,u  and  the  argument  before  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of 
Kendall  v.  United  States,  to  show  that  a  mandamus  issued  against 
Postmaster-General  Amos  Kendall,  to  compel  that  officer  to  complete 
certain  contracts  entered  into  by  his  predecessor,  ought  to  be  sus- 
tained.13 We  consider  this  position  largely  a  partisan  one.  Very  re- 
spectable authorities  on  political  science  hold  that  it  is  in  line  with  the 
original  view  of  the  powers  vested  in  the  Presidency.  But  the  minute 
investigation  of  the  early  status  and  condition  of  the  two  Depart- 
ments, requisite  to  prove  this,  has  not  been  made,  to  our  knowledge. 
Very  different  from  this  doctrine,  and  yet  entangled  with  it  in 
some  of  its  applications  to  cases,  is  the  recognition  of  a  distinction 
between  two  different  fields  in  every  Department,  in  one  of  which  the 
Department  Head  is  the  agent  of  the  President,  and  controllable 
by  him  only,  while  in  the  other  he  is  a  public  officer  of  the  United 

11  Congressional  Globe,  1833-1835,  pp.  54-57. 
18 12  Peters,  570,  et  seq. 

21 


322  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

States,  amenable  to  the  laws  for  the  performance  of  his  duties.  The 
Courts  have  recognized  the  latter  character,  whenever  they  have 
issued  a  writ  of  mandamus  against  a  Cabinet  officer.  Chief  Justice 
Marshall  laid  down  this  distinction  in  the  case  of  Marbury  v.  Madi- 
son." Though  the  passage  is  much  quoted,  it  is  not  so  lucid  as  the 
argument  of  Charles  Lee,  who  was  counsel  for  Marbury,  and  pre- 
viously Attorney-General  to  both  Washington  and  John  Adams. 
The  particular  officer  in  question  was  the  Secretary  of  State.  And 
Mr.  Lee  laid  down  that  he  exercises  his  functions  in  two  distinct 
capacities;  and  that  the  difference  is  clearly  illustrated  by  the  two 
acts  of  Congress,  establishing  the  office.  Under  the  greater  act, 
which  constitutes  the  Secretary  in  question  an  agent  to  conduct  the 
Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Government  at  the  President's  order,  he 
is  responsible  only  to  the  President.  But,  under  the  supplemen- 
tary act,  which  makes  him  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  and  Custo- 
dian of  the  Records  of  the  United  States,  he  is  a  public  ministerial 
officer,  executing  duties  enjoined  by  law,  and  uncontrollable  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States."  Obviously  this  position  would  be 
unfavorable  to  the  President's  power  of  direction,  accordingly  as 
the  line  was  drawn  between  the  two  fields. 

Opposed  to  these  restricted  views  in  whatever  form,  is  the  theory 
of  the  Executive  that  is  particularly  associated  with  Jackson's  name. 
We  quote  from  his  protest  against  the  resolutions  of  censure  passed 
by  the  Senate  upon  his  conduct  in  taking  the  removal  of  the  Govern- 
ment deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  into  his  own 
hands :  "  The  whole  Executive  power  being  vested  in  the  President, 
who  is  responsible  for  its  exercise,  it  is  a  necessary  consequence  that 
he  should  have  a  right  to  employ  agents  of  his  own  choice  in  the 
performance  of  his  duties,  and  to  discharge  them,  when  he  is  no 
longer  willing  to  be  responsible  for  their  acts  "  .  .  .  .  And,  "  it  would 
be  an  extraordinary  result,  if  because  the  person  charged  by  law 
with  a  public  duty  is  one  of  his  Secretaries,  it  were  less  the  duty  of 
the  President  to  see  that  law  faithfully  executed  than  other  laws 
enjoining  duties  upon  subordinate  officers  or  private  citizens."3 

18 1  Cranch,  164, 

14 1  Cranch,  137,  et  seq. 

15  Richardson,  Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  III,  79,  84. 


THE  CABINET  AND  THE  PRESIDENT.  323 

Judicially,  the  points  controverted  between  theories  of  the  Execu- 
tive have  not  been  fully  covered.  But  in  practice  the  power  of  F€- 
moval  renders  and  sustains  a  clear  verdict  in  the  President's  favor. 
Very  valuable  testimony  to  this  fact  is  furnished  by  the  Tenure-of- 
Office  Act  itself,  or  rather  by  the  attitude  of  the  members  of  Con- 
gress towards  that  act.  It  was  not  the  original  purpose  that  the  check 
put  upon  the  removal  power  should  operate  to  enjoin  the  President 
from  changing  his  Cabinet  officers ;  but  when  the  policy  of  Military 
Reconstruction  was  resolved  upon,  the  obvious  way  to  secure  an 
unimpeded  administration  of  that  policy  was  to  make  the  Head  of 
the  War  Department  irremovable  by  the  President." 

Jackson's  triumph  over  two  intractable  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury 
was  none  the  less  real  for  the  temporary  censure  of  the  Senate,  or  the 
refusal  to  confirm  the  vacation  incumbent,  after  the  work  for  which 
he  had  been  installed  was  done.  Jackson's  successors  have  pushed 
the  presidential  direction  over  the  Treasury  still  further  without 
incurring  opposition.  There  have  been  some  especially  conspicuous 
applications  to  this  Department  of  the  President's  power  to  recom- 
mend  to  Congress  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and 
expedient,  notably  in  President  Cleveland's  messages.  The  Sundry 
Civil  Bill  of  March  4,  1909,  contains  a  provision  that  is  very  strik- 
ingly at  variance  with  the  theory  that  the  Treasury  is  an  establish- 
ment outside  of  the  Executive  control.  It  is  herein  provided  that  the 
Secretary  for  the  Department,  upon  receiving  estimates  of  expendi- 
tures for  the  fiscal  year,  shall  prepare  an  estimate  of  revenues,  and 
report  all  discrepancies  between  the  two  to  Congress  so  soon  as  it 
assembles;  but  that  he  shall  also  acquaint  the  President  with  the 
facts  in  order  that  the  latter  officer  may  make  suggestions  to  Congress 
as  to  where  appropriations  could  be  cut  down,  or  advise  new  taxes 
or  loans."  Whether  it  has  become  the  practice  for  the  President  to 
exercise  the  same  authority  over  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury's 
reports  as  he  does  over  those  from  the  other  Departments  is  not 
clear.  The  Annual  Report  from  the  Treasury  and  the  Annual  Mes- 
sage have  occasionally  been  at  cross-purposes. 

"  Dewitt,  Impeachment  and  Trial  of  Andrew  Johnson,  193. 
1T  Statutes  at  Large,  XXXV,  1027,  Section  7. 


324  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

The  Interior  Department  has  been  a  place  for  a  good  deal  of 
friction  between  President  and  Secretary  over  the  carrying  out  of 
specific  acts  of  Congress.  In  the  case  of  the  McGarrahan  Claim, 
President  Grant  overruled  Secretary  Cox  so  preemptorily,  that  it 
was  questioned  by  the  newspapers,  whether  official  self-respect  did 
not  require  the  Secretary  to  resign.  An  apparent  conflict  between 
President  Cleveland  and  Secretary  Vilas  attracted  attention ;  but  in 
this  case,  facts  and  appearances  seem  to  have  been  contradictory.18 
There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  disputes  with  which  the 
Land  Office  has  been  concerned  in  more  recent  years,  the  President 
has  set  the  orders  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  at  naught  more 
often  than  the  public  has  known. 

The  distinction  is  still  drawn  between  the  two  kinds  of  acts  or 
duties  that  a  Department  Head  performs.  But  the  Supreme  Court  in 
1866,  handed  down  a  very  restrictive  definition  of  the  field  in  which 
*  such  officer  has  been  deemed  to  be  uncontrollable  by  the  President : 
"  A  ministerial  duty,  the  performance  of  which  may,  in  proper  cases, 
be  required  of  the  Head  of  a  Department  by  judicial  process,  is  one 
in  respect  to  which  nothing  is  left  to  discretion.  It  is  a  simple 
definite  duty,  arising  under  conditions  admitted  or  proved  to  exist, 
and  imposed  by  law."  3 '  On  the  other  hand,  in  cases  where  discretion  . 
is  involved  in  acts  imposed  by  statutes,  the  working  theory  is  that  the 
ultimate  discretion  is  the  President's.  This  doctrine  is  upheld  by  the 
opinions  of  several  Attorneys-General.30  There  are  documentary  sur- 
vivals of  the  narrower  interpretation  of  the  President's  authority. 
Stanton  expressed  the  restrictive  view,  in  his  reply  to  Johnson's 
charges.21  And  almost  a  generation  later,  John  Sherman  in  an  utter- 
ance that  rings  more  like  an  echo  than  a  voice,  asserted  the  doctrine 
that  the  President  has  no  more  right  to  control  or  exercise  the  pow- 
ers or  functions  conferred  upon  the  Department  Heads  by  laws,  than 
they  have  to  control  him  in  the  exercise  of  his  duties.83 

18  Political  Science  Quarterly,  IV,  452,  F.  P.  Powers,  Railroad  Indemnity 
Lands. 

19  4  Wallace,  498,  Mississippi  v.  Johnson. 

"Opinions  of  the  Attorney-General,  VII,  453-482,  Gushing;  X,  527-539, 
Bates. 

21  Gorham,  Life  of  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  II,  420. 

22  Sherman,  Recollections  of  Forty  Years,  I,  449. 


THE  CABINET  AND  THE  PRESIDENT.  325 

On  the  other  hand,  some  changes  are  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Cabinet.  The  great  gain  to  the  Presidency  in  theory  is  of  necessity 
modified  in  practice  by  the  vast  expansion  of  administrative  opera- 
tions, an  increase  that  is  signalized  not  only  by  the  doubling  of  the 
number  of  portfolios,  but  by  great  development  in  Department  or- 
ganization, in  which  a  new  era  may  be  distinctly  traced  from  the 
beginning  of  the  Civil  War.  The  Secretaries  themselves  have  with- 
drawn from  operating  the  Departments  in  the  sense  in  which  they  did 
during  the  first  sixty  or  seventy  years  of  the  National  Government. 
And  the  President  has  ceased  from  knowledge  of  the  ordinary  round 
of  business.  To  great  effect  might  Washington's  direct  acquaintance 
with  Department  correspondence23  be  set  over  against  Lincoln's 
powerlessness  to  keep  abreast  of  the  papers  that  required  his  signa- 
ture.24 Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  long  usage  is  against  inter- 
ference with  ordinary  Department  business,  a  forceful  Chief  Execu- 
tive would  probably  assert  the  right  to  interfere,  if  any  occasion  for 
doing  so  came  to  his  knowledge. 

The  President  has  acquired  new  authority  over  his  assistants ;  but 
he  has  become  more  dependent  upon  them.  The  frequency  and  regu- 
larity of  Cabinet  sessions  is  a  very  visible  proof.  Prior  to  the  Civil 
War,  every  President  had  a  practice  of  his  own.  In  the  literature 
of  Lincoln's  administration,  there  are  clear  traces  of  the  Tuesday- 
Friday  rule ;  but  Lincoln  was  most  unmethodical  about  observing  it. 
Johnson  held  the  semi-weekly  consultations  with  great  regularity. 
And  the  custom  has  since  been  observed  without  interruption,  when 
the  President  is  at  the  seat  of  Government  and  able  to  attend  to  his 
duties.  Without  the  President,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  Cabinet 
meeting. 

A  Cabinet  conference  is  exactly  like  a  conference  of  a  Board  of 
Directors.  Ordinarily  a  few  men  dominate  the  discussion;  and  yet 
the  suggestions  of  the  others  are  helpful.  The  nature  and  scope  of 
Cabinet  discussions  depend  upon  the  President.  General  Grant  seems 
to  have  had  a  fashion  of  calling  for  reports  of  things  done  in  the 
different  Departments.  Many  Presidents  would  despatch  such 

23  Writings  of  Jefferson,  VIII,  99. 

24  Welles,  Lincoln  and  Seward,  68,  70. 


326  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

matters  with  individual  Secretaries.  And  Lincoln  treated  such  large 
affairs  as  purely  Departmental  concerns  that  he  called  forth  a  protest 
from  the  Senate.  Washington's  consultations  ranged  from  the  great 
problems  of  foreign  relations  to  the  details  of  procedure  and  the  fine 
points  of  etiquette. 

The  Cabinet's  claims  to  a  right  to  be  consulted  depend  upon  pre- 
cedent and  custom.  And  these  are  only  beginning  to  be  appreciated 
as  forces  in  American  institutions.  The  President  is  not  obliged  to 
consult  the  Cabinet ;  but  he  is  expected  to  consult  it.  Public  opinion 
cannot  compel  him  to  do  so  on  specific  subjects,  because  it  is  not 
sufficiently  well  informed  of  current  happenings.  The  secrecy  of  the 
Cabinet  is  well  guarded,  despite  the  enterprise  of  press  agencies. 
The  inside  history  of  President  Roosevelt's  intervention  between 
Japan  and  Russia  in  1905  is  not  yet  generally  known.  The  Adminis- 
tration was  much  dispersed  at  the  time,  and  Mr.  Hay,  the  Secretary 
of  State,  was  in  his  last  illness.  A  strong  force  to  compel  consulta- 
tion with  individual  Secretaries  is  the  standard  of  official  self-respect 
that  attaches  to  Cabinet  office.  The  rule  may  be  laid  down  that  the 
President  ordinarily  consults  with  the  Cabinet  on  matters  of  grave 
public  importance,  and  that  only  under  most  extraordinary  conditions 
would  he  take  action  affecting  the  work  of  a  particular  Department 
without  conference  with  the  Head  of  that  Department. 

The  tendency  of  political  science  is  to  speak  more  disparagingly 
of  the  Cabinet's  claims  than  actual  practice  justifies.  An  unfortu- 
nate legend  has  grown  up  that  the  Cabinet  has  been  ignored  in 
Executive  transactions  of  very  great  importance.  The  Louisiana 
Purchase  and  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  have  become  kind  of 
stock  examples,  although  facts  to  show  that  the  Cabinet  was  not 
overlooked  are  matters  of  common  knowledge.35  President  Jefferson 
himself  did  not  know  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  until  after  the  Com- 
missioners had  closed  with  the  Emperor's  proposal.  The  lesser  pro- 
ject to  acquire  New  Orleans  had  been  previously  discussed  with  his 
Cabinet,  as  was  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  afterwards.  The  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  was,  in  its  important  aspects,  President  Lin- 
coln's unassisted  act.  But  everybody  knows  that  the  document  was 

29  Infra,  Administrations  of  Jefferson  and  Lincoln. 


THE  CABINET  AND  THE  PRESIDENT.  327 

read  to  the  Cabinet.  And  much  informal  discussion  of  emancipation 
had  preceded  the  President's  resolution  to  take  the  step.  There  have 
been  real  cases  of  failure  to  consult  the  Cabinet.  But  they  are  not  so 
imposing  as  these  legendary  examples.  And  they  tend  to  show  that 
the  opposite  course  is  the  one  that  is  expected.  President  Polk 
refrained  from  consulting  his  Cabinet  about  the  veto  of  the  River 
and  Harbor  Bill  of  1846,  because  he  had  made  up  his  mind  that 
he  could  not  sign  the  bill  under  any  circumstances.38  And  President 
Hayes  once  announced  a  policy  and  carried  it  out,  without  asking 
his  Cabinet  for  their  views,  because  he  knew  beforehand  that  his 
course  would  be  disapproved.27  General  Grant,  in  his  naivete  about 
government  by  deliberation,  either  ignored  or  misled  his  Cabinet  in 
the  negotiation  for  the  annexation  of  San  Domingo.  And  Secretary 
Fish  of  the  State  Department  would  have  laid  down  his  office  for  the 
affront,  had  not  fears  for  the  welfare  of  his  party  constrained  him. 

Technically  the  existence  of  the  Cabinet  is  voluntary  with  the 
President.  But  it  has  strong  sanctions  in  the  body  of  unwritten  law 
that  is  growing  up.  The  idea  that  the  Executive  should  be  plural  in 
its  deliberations  has  obtained  almost  from  its  establishment.  The 
proposition  to  attach  a  Council  to  the  Presidency  by  Constitutional 
provision  failed  in  the  Federal  Convention.  But,  when  the  Govern- 
ment had  only  rounded  out  its  first  decade,  the  dispersed  condition  of 
the  Executive  under  President  John  Adams  provoked  sharp  dis- 
approval, and  contributed  to  the  downfall  of  the  Federalist  party. 
Although  the  collegiate  existence  of  the  Cabinet  was  irregular  for 
nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century,  it  was  not  often  interrupted. 
Jackson  held  no  Cabinet  meetings  during  the  first  two  years  of  his 
presidency;  whereat  a  Congressional  lobby  from  his  own  section  of 
the  country  requested  him  to  observe  that  practice.  In  the  second  year 
of  the  Civil  War,  the  Cabinet  was  not  sufficiently  in  evidence  to 
satisfy  all  parties.  And  a  powerful  lobby  from  the  Senate,  instigated 
by  Secretary  Chase,  waited  upon  the  President  about  the  matter. 
The  separateness  of  the  Cabinet  from  other  advisers  has  been  care- 
fully guarded.  And  the  present  view  of  those  occasions  when  out- 

38  Folk's  Diary,  VIII,  7. 

27  Stevens,  Sources  of  the  Constitution,  167,  Footnote. 


328  THE  PRESIDENT'S  CABINET. 

siders  meet  with  it,  as  happened  in  the  Spanish-American  War  of 
1898,  is  that  the  affair  is  a  special  consultation,  even  though  it  should 
happen  at  the  time  and  place  of  a  regular  Cabinet  meeting.  Acting 
Secretaries  have  sometimes  been  summoned,  but  such  is  not  recent 
practice.  Presidents  have  resorted  to  extra-Cabinet  counsels  with 
great  freedom.  Congressional  intimacies  are  a  necessity.  Madison 
served  Washington  for  a  spokesman  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
as  Lodge  did  Roosevelt  in  the  Senate.  Care  for  the  political  side  of 
the  administration  also  takes  the  President  outside  of  the  Cabinet, 
although  the  Post  Office  is  a  manager's  portfolio.  Amos  Kendall  and 
Thurlow  Weed  are  a  familiar  type  of  Presidential  adviser.  The 
prestige  of  the  official  Cabinet  has  occasionally  suffered  for  the 
favor  shown  to  men  who  stood  close  to  the  President  in  informal 
ways.  But  "  Kitchen  Cabinets  "  are  not  pleasing  to  public  sentiment. 
The  Cabinet  has  once  been  recognized  by  statute.  This  occurred  in 
the  General  Appropriations  Act  of  1907,  where  it  is  called  by  name  in 
the  clause  that  fixes  the  salaries  of  its  members. 

The  American  Cabinet  is  not  performing  any  blind  or  unsuspected 
functions.  Neither  has  it  been  the  seat  of  any  great  transformations 
in  the  nature  of  the  Government.  It  is  not  a  main-spring  or  a  pivot ; 
but  it  has  shown  itself  to  be  an  essential  attachment.  It  is  so  ad- 
justed that  the  American  Executive  is  plural  in  deliberation,  while  it 
is  single  in  responsibility. 


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22 


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Armstrong,  Kosciuszko.  Review  of  T.  L.  McKenney's  Narrative  of  the 
causes  which  in  1814,  led  to  General  Armstrong's  Resignation  of  the 
War  Office.  New  York:  1846. 

Lincoln,  Abraham.  Complete  Works,  Comprising  his  speeches,  state  papers, 
and  miscellaneous  writings.  Edited  by  John  G.  Nicolay  and  John  Hay. 
2  vols.  New  York:  1894. 

Pickering,  Timothy.  Review  of  the  Correspondence  between  the  Hon.  John 
Adams  and  William  Cunningham,  Esq.  Salem:  1824. 

Quincy,  Josiah.  Speeches  Delivered  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
Edited  by  his  son  Edmund  Quincy.  Boston:  1874. 

Randolph,  Edmund.  Vindication  of  Mr.  Randolph's  Resignation.  Philadel- 
phia: 1795- 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Blaine,  Mrs.  James  G.  Letters.  Edited  by  Harriet  S.  Blaine  Beale.  2  vols. 
New  York:  1908. 

Carpenter,  F.  B.  Six  Months  at  the  White  House  with  Abraham  Lincoln. 
New  York:  1865. 

Dana,  C.  A.  Recollections  of  the  Civil  War.  With  the  Leaders  at  Wash- 
ington and  in  the  Field  in  the  Sixties.  New  York :  1898. 

Chittenden,  L.  E.  Recollections  of  President  Lincoln  and  his  Administration. 
New  York:  1891. 

Chittenden,  L.  E.  Personal  Reminiscences,  1840-1890,  including  some  not 
hitherto  published  of  Lincoln  and  the  War.  New  York:  1893. 

Crook,  William  H.  Through  Five  Administrations.  Edited  by  Margarita 
Spalding  Gerry.  New  York:  1910. 

Field,  Maunsell  B.    Memories  of  Many  Men  and  Some  Women.    New  York : 

1874. 

Forney,  John  W.  Anecdotes  of  Public  Men.,  2  vols.    New  York :  1873  and  1881. 
Gilmore,   James   R.      Personal   Recollections    of   Abraham   Lincoln   and  the 

Civil  War.    Boston:  1898. 
Gobright,  L.  A.    Recollections  of  Men  and  Things  at  Washington,  during  the 

third  of  a  Century.     Philadelphia:  1869. 
Hamilton,  James  A.    Reminiscences.    Men  and  Events  at  Home  and  Abroad, 

during  three  quarters  of  a  century.    New  York:  1869. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  339 

Lamon,  Ward  H.    Recollections  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  1847-1865.     1895. 
McClure,  A.  K.    Abraham  Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times.     Some  personal 

recollections   of  War  and    Politics   during   the   Lincoln  Administration. 

Philadelphia:  1892. 

Piatt,  Don.    Memoirs  of  the  Men  who  saved  the  Union.    New  York,  etc. :  1887. 
Poore,  Ben :  Perley.     Perley's  Reminiscences  of  Sixty  Years  in  the  National 

Metropolis.     2  vols.  Philadelphia:  1886. 
Riddle,   A.    G.     Recollections   of   War   Times.     Reminiscences   of  men   and 

events  in  Washington.     1860-1865.     New  York:   1895. 
Rice,  Allen  Thorndike.    Reminiscences  of  Abraham  Lincoln.    By  distinguished 

men  of  his  time.     Collected  and  edited  by  Allen  Thorndike  Rice.     The 

North  American  Review.     New  York:  1888. 
Rothschild,  Alonzo.    Lincoln,  Master  of  Men.    Boston :  1906. 
Sargent,  Nathan.     Public  Men  and  Events.    2  vols.     Philadelphia:  1875. 
Sherman  Letters,  The.     Correspondence  between  General  and  Senator  Sher- 
man from  1837  to  1891.     Edited  by  Rachel  Sherman  Thorndike.     New 

York:  1894. 
Smith,  Margaret  Bayard.     The  First  Forty  Years  of  Washington   Society. 

Letters.    Edited  by  Gaillard  Hunt.     New  York :  1908. 
Welles,  Gideon.    Lincoln  and  Seward.    New  York:  1874. 


INDEX. 


Adams,  John,  retains  Washington's 
cabinet,  31 ;  calls  on  cabinet  for 
opinions  on  French  relations,  31, 
32;  opposed  to  Hamilton,  31;  and 
his  cabinet,  31,  32;  absences  from 
Washington,  32;  opinion  of  Hamil- 
ton, 32;  his  controversy  over  the 
major-generals,  33,  34;  and  his 
secretaries,  34,  35,  36. 

Adams,  J.  Q.,  Secretary  of  State,  66; 
coalition  cabinet  of,  73,  74;  cabinet 
relations  under,  75;  resignations  in 
his  cabinet,  76,  77. 

Ad  interim  appointments,  203;  act 
relative  thereto,  203. 

Agriculture,  Department  of,  estab- 
lished, 248 ;  its  history,  248 ;  organi- 
zation, 248;  report  of  the  Secre- 
tary, 308. 

Alger,  Russell  A.,  Secretary  of  War, 
263;  resigns,  265. 

Allison,  William  B.,  and  Secretary- 
ship of  the  Treasury,  234. 

Ames,  Fisher,  urges  co-operation  of 
Federalists  in  Congress,  32. 

Akerman,  Amos  T.,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 212;  character,  212. 

Armstrong,  John,  Secretary  of  War, 
55  ;  character,  55  ;  resigns,  57. 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  accepts  resigna- 
tion of  Garfield's  cabinet,  241 ;  ap- 
pointments, 241,  242,  243 ;  ability  of 
his  cabinet,  242. 

Assistant  Attorney-General,  217. 

Assistant-Secretary,  influence  of,  263. 

Attorney-General,  office  created,  8 ; 
duties,  8;  not  consulted  by  the 


President  at  first,  10,  n;  consulted 
on  Bank  Act  (1791),  n;  gives 
opinion  on  constitutionality  of  Ap- 
portionment Act  (1792),  12;  Presi- 
dent said  should  be  consulted,  12; 
position  in  cabinet  strengthened  by 
Genet  mission,  14;  Bradford  suc- 
ceeds Randolph  as,  25;  proposals 
for,  27,  note;  absent  from  seat  of 
government,  attending  to  private 
practice,  67;  fixed  residence,  67; 
Butler,  non-resident,  101 ;  ranks 
with  the  Secretaries,  149;  heads 
Department  of  Justice,  216;  duties, 
216,  217;  in  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment, 217,  note. 

Bacon,  Robert,  Secretary  of  State, 
275- 

Badger,  George,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  107;  resigns,  113. 

Ballinger,  Richard  A.,  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  280;  controversy  over, 
280,  281 ;  resigns,  281. 

Bancroft,  George,  on  Van  Buren's 
policy  towards  the  secretaries,  99, 
100;  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  129; 
why  appointed,  130;  resigns,  133; 
efficiency,  133;  Minister  to  Eng- 
land, 133. 

Barbour,  James,  Secretary  of  War, 
74;  Minister  to  England,  76. 

Barry,  William  T.,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 83;  first  Postmaster-General 
of  cabinet  rank,  83. 

Bates,  Edward,  in  Lincoln's  cabinet, 
171,  172,  174;  resigns,  187. 


341 


342 


INDEX. 


Bayard,  Thomas  F.,  Secretary  of 
State,  247. 

Bell,  John,  Secretary  of  War,  106; 
resigns,  113. 

Belknap,  W.  W.,  Secretary  of  War, 
210;  impeached,  214,  215;  resigns, 
215- 

Berrien,  John  M.,  Attorney-General, 
82. 

Bibb,  George  M.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  122. 

Bissell,  Wilson  S.,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 259. 

Black,  Jeremiah  S.,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 162;  Secretary  of  State,  165. 

Elaine,  James  G.,  and  Hayes,  221, 
225;  Secretary  of  State,  233;  char- 
acterized by  Garfield,  235,  236;  re- 
tires, 242 ;  Secretary  of  State  under 
Harrison,  253,  254,  255;  resigns, 
255- 

Blair,  Frank  P.,  Jackson  and,  85; 
Johnson's  adviser,  192. 

Blair,  Montgomery,  Postmaster- 
General,  174;  resigns,  187,  188. 

Bliss,  Cornelius  N.,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  264;  retires,  265. 

Bonaparte,  Charles  J.,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  271,  272;  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 273. 

Borie,  Adolph  E.,  in  Grant's  cabinet, 
210;  resigns,  210. 

Boutwell,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
209;  enters  Senate,  213. 

Bradford,  William,  succeeds  E.  Ran- 
dolph as  Attorney-General,  25 ; 
dies,  26. 

Branch,  John,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
82. 

Brewster,  Benj.  H.,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 242. 

Brown,  Aaron  V.,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 162;  dies,  162. 


Browning,  O.  H.,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  193. 

Buchanan,  James,  declines  Attorney- 
Generalship,  101 ;  Secretary  of 
State,  129;  cabinet  appointments, 
161,  162;  and  his  cabinet,  163,  164, 
165,  167. 

Butler,  B.  F.,  Attorney-General,  94; 
resigns,  101 ;  declines  Secretaryship 
of  War,  129. 

Cabinet,  origin  of,  I ;  executive  de- 
partments in  Continental  Congress 
and,  2;  under  Washington,  7; 
Washington's  first,  9;  consulted 
by  the  President,  9,  10,  1 1 ;  and 
Bank  Act  (1791),  n;  meeting  of 
(1791),  12;  on  constitutionality  of 
Apportionment  Act  (1792),  12; 
consulted  by  President  on  Excise 
Law  (1792),  12;  and  address  to 
Congress  (1792),  13;  influenced  by 
Virginia  executive  council,  13. 
meetings  under  Washington,  13; 
effect  of  Genet  mission  on,  14; 
and  French  Neutrality,  14; 
"  assembled  consultation "  begins 
(1793),  14;  naming  of,  15;  separa- 
tion from  other  advisers,  16;  dif- 
ferent parties  in,  22,  23 ;  conflict  in, 
23 ;  reorganization  of  and  Jay's 
Treaty,  26;  Washington  on  diver- 
gent views  in,  26;  becomes  entire- 
ly Federalist,  26;  President  Adams 
and,  37;  relation  with  President 
discussed,  37;  unanimity  of  Jef- 
ferson's, 43;  meetings  under  Jef- 
ferson, 43 ;  and  Louisiana  pur- 
chase, 46;  relations  discussed  by 
Jefferson,  52,  53;  quarrels,  55,  56, 
57;  double  appointments  in,  58; 
government  by  under  Jefferson 
and  Madison,  Quincy's  remarks 
on,  59,  60;  geographical  represen- 


INDEX. 


343 


tation  in,  65;  Monroe's  attitude 
towards,  65 ;  character  under  Mon- 
roe, 67;  rivalry  for  the  Presidency 
in,  68;  and  Congress,  68;  meetings 
under  Monroe,  69;  and  Jackson, 
69;  and  Missouri  Compromise,  69; 
goes  with  President  to  Capitol  on 
last  night  of  a  session,  69;  rela- 
tions under  Monroe,  70;  coalition 
cabinet  of  J.  Q.  Adams,  73,  74; 
relations  under  J.  Q.  Adams,  75; 
character  of  Adams',  75 ;  and  ap- 
pointment of  the  General-in-chief 
(1828),  75,  76;  speeches  by  mem- 
bers of,  76;  the  "travelling  Cabi- 
net," 76;  tenure  in  discussed,  77; 
new  features  under  Jackson,  81 ; 
Jackson's  appointments,  81,  82,  83; 
Congress  and  Jackson's  appoint- 
ments for,  84;  character  of  Jack- 
son's 84;  the  "Kitchen,"  84,  85, 
86;  meetings  discontinued  under 
Jackson,  86;  attitude  of  Jackson 
to,  88,  89;  Jackson's  second,  89; 
removal  of  the  deposits  and  Jack- 
son's, 90,  91 ;  views  of  members 
on  the  removal,  91 ;  reconstructed 
by  Jackson,  91 ;  character  of  Jack- 
son's last,  94;  meetings  under  Van 
Buren,  99;  Van  Buren's  character- 
ized, 101,  102;  Tyler's  relation  with 
his,  112,  113;  must  change  with 
President,  127;  and  division  among 
Democrats,  127;  character  of 
Folk's,  130;  meetings  under  Polk, 
132;  originates  legislation,  133; 
formation  of  Taylor's,  140,  141 ; 
character  of  Taylor's  141 ;  the  Gal- 
phin  Claim  and  Taylor's,  143; 
resignation  of  Taylor's,  147;  and 
the  whigs,  149;  salaries  raised 
(1853),  149;  character  under 
Pierce,  155;  and  the  Kansas-Ne- 
braska Bill,  156,  157;  polls  of,  157; 


after  Lincoln's  election,  162,  1631 
reconstruction  (1860),  163,  164, 
165;  and  Buchanan,  164,  166,  167; 
second  reconstruction  of  Buchan- 
an's, 167;  regency  of  under  Bu- 
chanan, 168;  formation  of  Lin- 
coln's, 171,  172,  173,  174;  relations 
within  Lincoln's,  175 ;  Lincoln  and, 
179;  Chase's  views,  180;  Senate 
criticizes  Lincoln's,  180,  181 ;  Lin- 
coln and,  181;  Senate's  attitude 
discussed,  182;  and  the  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation,  186;  Tenure 
of  Office  Act  and,  194,  195,  196, 
197 ;  Presidential  and  members  of, 
202,  203;  ad  interim  appointments, 
203 ;  act  relative  thereto,  203 ;  Ten- 
ure of  Office  Act  amended,  203, 
204;  reappointments  of,  204; 
Grant's  characterized,  207;  his  ap- 
pointments, 207,  208;  double  State 
representation  in,  209,  210;  Grant 
and,  21 1 ;  low  ebb  of  Grant's,  213; 
relations  within  Harrison's,  254; 
Harrison's  Cabinet  and  Chile,  254; 
and  McKinley's  assassination,  265; 
under  Roosevelt,  269;  activity  of 
Roosevelt's,  271 ;  The  Nation  on, 
272;  and  newspapers,  272,  273; 
salaries  of  members  raised,  274; 
political  relations  of,  283,  284;  and 
the  South,  284;  and  the  opposition, 
284;  changes  of  the,  284,  285;  and 
the  President,  285;  and  geographi- 
cal requirements,  286;  precedence 
of  state  in,  286;  double  representa- 
tion of  states  in,  286,  288,  289,  290, 
291 ;  the  West  and,  287 ;  balance  be- 
tween North  and  South  in,  287, 
288;  precedence  of  portfolios  in, 
288;  President  and  cabinet  mem- 
bers from  the  same  state,  289 ;  for- 
eign missions  and,  289;  sectional- 
ism and,  289,  290;  and  the  North- 


344 


INDEX. 


west,  290;  and  New  York,  290; 
and  Pacific  coast,  290;  South  and 
West  and,  290;  rule  against  double 
representation  relaxed,  290 ;  291 ; 
political  factions  and,  291,  292; 
coalition  cabinet,  292 ;  membership 
in  the  Senate  and,  292,  293  and 
note,  294;  presidential  aspirants 
excluded  from,  294;  and  unsuc- 
cessful candidates  for  the  Presi- 
dency, 294,  295;  previous  status  of 
members  of,  295,  296;  Congres- 
sional committees  as  training- 
school  for  members,  296;  promo- 
tion of  assistants,  296,  297;  trans- 
fer of  members,  297;  promotion 
discussed,  297,  298;  state  govern- 
ments as  training-schools  for  cabi- 
net members,  298 ;  qualification  for, 
298;  membership  in  and  party 
service,  298,  299;  administrative 
ability  and  membership  in,  299; 
cabinet  members  not  in  Congress, 
301 ;  communications  from  mem- 
bers of  to  Congress,  302;  privilege 
of  debate,  302,  303;  Pendleton's 
resolution,  302,  303 ;  and  the  Con*- 
federate  Congress,  303,  304;  in- 
formal relations  with  Congress, 
3O4,  3O5;  social  relations  with 
Congressmen,  Mrs.  Jefferson  Davis 
on,  305;  admitted  to  halls  and 
floors  of  Congress,  305;  reports, 
307;  sends  drafts  of  bills  to  Con- 
gress, 308;  objected  to,  308;  Sen- 
ate's resolution  against,  309;  and 
appropriations,  309;  and  Tariff 
bills,  310;  and  administrative  influ- 
ence, 310;  and  Mint  and  Coinage 
Act  (1873),  311;  relative  influ- 
ence of,  312;  not  like  European 
ministries,  314;  subordination  to 
the  President,  317;  removals,  317, 
318,  confirmation  by  the  Senate, 


319;  control  by  the  President,  320, 
321 ;  double  character  of  members, 
321,  322;  Jackson  on  control  of, 
323;  Supreme  Court  and  Presiden- 
tial control  of,  324;  expansion  of 
duties,  325;  dependence  of  Presi- 
dent on,  325;  weekly  meetings  of, 
325 ;  like  a  board  of  directors,  325 ; 
President  expected  to  consult,  326; 
secrecy,  326 ;  not  ignored,  326,  327 ; 
outsiders  seldom  meet  with,  327, 
328. 

Cabot,  George,  declines  secretaryship 
of  the  Navy,  34;  on  relations  of 
President  with  cabinet,  37. 

Calhoun,  John  G,  Secretary  of  War, 
66,  67;  Secretary  of  State,  122. 

California,  McKenna,  first  member 
in  a  cabinet  from,  264. 

Cameron    Don,    Secretary    of    War, 

215- 

Cameron,  Simon,  Secretary  of  War, 
174;  superseded  by  Stanton,  177; 
Minister  to  Russia,  178. 

Campbell,  George  W.,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  54,  55;  resigns,  58. 

Campbell,  James,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 153. 

Carlisle,  John  G.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  259. 

Carrington,  Edward,  proposed  for 
Secretary  of  War,  27,  note. 

Cass,  Lewis,  Buchanan's  opinion  of, 
161 ;  Secretary  of  State,  161 ;  re- 
signs, 164. 

Chandler,  William  E.,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  242. 

Chandler,  Zachariah,  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  214. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  and  Lincoln's 
cabinet,  180;  resigns,  181,  182;  re- 
sumes his  place,  182 ;  and  Lincoln, 
182,  183,  184,  185;  resigns,  184; 
Chief-Justice,  185. 


INDEX. 


345 


Chief  Justice,  in  President's  Council, 
4;  consulted  by  the  President,  10, 
n. 

Chilian  relations,  Harrison's  cabinet 
and,  254,  255. 

Civil  Service  Reform,  in  Grant's 
administration,  212;  and  Hayes' 
Cabinet,  226,  227. 

Clay,  Henry,  Secretary  of  State,  73; 
appointment  criticized,  74;  loyal 
to  Adams,  76;  and  Harrison's  ap- 
pointments, 105,  106;  and  Webster, 
147. 

Clayton,  John  M.,  Secretary  of  State, 
139,  140. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  and  double-repre- 
sentation, 247;  his  cabinet,  247; 
and  his  cabinet,  249;  does  not  re- 
call old  cabinet  in  second  adminis- 
tration, 259;  appointments  in  sec- 
ond administration,  259,  260. 

Clifford,  Nathan,  Attorney-General, 
134;  resigns,  134. 

Cobb,  Howell,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  161 ;  resigns,  163. 

Coleman,  Norman  J.,  Secretary  of 
Agriculture,  248. 

Collamer,  Jacob,  Postmaster-General, 
140. 

Colonial  governments,  division  of 
powers,  12. 

Commerce  and  Labor,  Department 
of  established,  269,  270;  duties, 
270;  and  other  departments,  270; 
first  Secretary,  270;  report  of  the 
Secretary,  308. 

Confederation,  the,  executive  gov- 
ernment in,  3. 

Congress,  Jackson's  cabinet  appoint- 
ments and,  84, 

Conkling,    Roscoe,    and    Hayes'    ap- 
pointments, 221,  225;   and    Secre- 
taryship of  the  Treasury,  234. 
23 


Constitutional  Convention  (1787), 
discusses  privy  council,  3,  4,  5,  6.  7. 

Continental  Congress,  executive  de- 
partments of,  2;  created,  2;  under 
the  Confederation,  3. 

Cortelyou,  George  B.,  Secretary  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  270;  Chair- 
man Republican  National  Com- 
mittee, 270 ;  Postmaster-General, 
271 ;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
273- 

Corwin,  Thomas,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  148. 

Council,  in  colonial  government,  1-2; 
in  Constitutional  Convention 
(1787),  3,  4- 

Council  of  State,  resolution  for  in 
Constitutional  Convention,  4,  5; 
rejected,  5;  new  resolution  for 
adopted,  5;  Mason's  motion  for 
(1787),  5,  6. 

Crawford,  George  W.,  Secretary  of 
War,  140. 

Crawford,  William  H.,  Secretary  of 
War,  58,  59;  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  66,  and  note. 

Crittenden,  John  J.,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 106;  resigns,  113;  again  ap- 
pointed, 148. 

Crowninshield,  Benj.,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  58. 

Curtis,  B.  R.,  declines  Attorney-Gen- 
eralship, 201. 

Cushing,  Caleb,  nominated  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  119;  rejected  by 
Senate,  119;  in  Pierce's  cabinet, 
154,  155. 

Dallas,  A.  J.,  preferred  by  Madison 
for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  55; 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  58;  also 
Secretary  of  War,  58. 


346 


INDEX. 


Dana,  Francis,  named  by  Adams  as 
Commissioner  to  France,  33;  de- 
clines, 33. 

Davie,  William  R.,  commissioner  to 
France,  34. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  Secretary  of  War, 
154;  his  influence,  157. 

Day,  William  R.,  Assistant-Secretary 
of  State,  263;  Secretary  of  State, 
264;  Associate-Justice,  264. 

Dearborn,  Henry,  Secretary  of  War, 
41. 

Delano,  Columbus,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  213;  retires,  214. 

Democrats,  division  of  affects  Folk's 
cabinet,  127,  128;  Jackson's  views, 
128. 

Dennison,  William  A.,  Postmaster- 
General,  188;  resigns,  192. 

Departments,  in  Revolutionary  gov- 
ernment, 2;  under  the  Confedera- 
tion, 3 ;  heads  of  responsible  for, 
4;  President  and,  5;  Washington 
and  heads  of,  7;  established,  8. 

Deposits,  Jackson's  cabinet  and  the 
removal  of  the,  90,  91 ;  Jackson  ad- 
dresses his  cabinet  on,  91,  92;  ac- 
complished, 92;  Congress  and,  92. 

Devens,  Charles,  Attorney-General, 
224;  discussed,  223,  224. 

Dexter,  Samuel,  Secretary  of  War, 
36;  acts  as  Secretary  of  State,  36. 

Dickerson,  Mahlon,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  94. 

Dickinson,  Don  M.,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 248. 

Dickinson,  Jacob  M.,  Secretary  of 
War,  279;  retires,  281. 

Dix,  John  A.,  offered  Secretaryship 
of  State,  154;  Secretary  of  Treas- 
ury, 167. 

Dobbin,  James  C,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  154. 


Domestic  Affairs,  Secretary  of  in 
President's  Council,  4. 

Duane,  William  J.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  91 ;  and  removal  of  the 
deposits,  91 ;  dismissed,  91. 

Eaton,  John  H.,  Secretary  of  War, 
81;  resigns,  87,  88. 

Ellsworth,  Oliver,  on  President's 
council  (1787),  4;  commissioner  to 
France,  34. 

Elkins,  Stephen  B.,  Secretary  of 
War,  255- 

Emancipation  Proclamation,  Lin- 
coln's cabinet  and,  186,  326,  327. 

Endicott,  William  C.,  Secretary  of 
War,  247. 

England,  Treaty  with,  46. 

Eustis,  William,  Secretary  of  War, 
52. 

Evarts,  William  M.,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 201. 

Everett,  Edward,  Secretary  of  State, 
148. 

Ewing,  Thomas,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  106;  resigns,  113;  his 
views,  114,  115;  proposed  for  Post- 
master-General, 140;  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  140;  Johnson's  ad- 
viser, 192. 

Fairchild,  Charles  S.,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  248. 

Fessenden,  William,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  185;  returns  to  Senate, 
188. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  appointments,  147, 
148;  and  Harrison's  cabinet,  147, 
148. 

Finance,  superintendency  of  created 
(1781),  2;  under  the  Confedera- 
tion, 3 ;  secretary  of  in  President's 
Council,  5. 

Fish,  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  State, 
209. 


INDEX. 


Fisher,  Walter  L.,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  281. 

Floyd,  John  B.,  Secretary  of  War, 
162,  163,  164;  resigns,  165,  166. 

Folger,  Charles  J.,  and  Secretaryship 
of  the  Treasury,  233,  234;  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  241,  242; 
death  of,  242. 

Foreign  Affairs,  secretaryship  created 
(1781),  2;  under  the  Confedera- 
tion, 3;  in  President's  Council,  4; 
Department  of  established  (1789), 
8;  name  changed,  8. 

Forsyth,  John,  Secretary  of  State,  94. 

Forward,  Walter  H.,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  118;  resigns,  119. 

Foster,  Charles,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  255. 

Foster,  John  W.,  Secretary  of  State, 
255. 

France,  relations  with,  34. 

Francis,  David  R.,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  260. 

Franklin,  B.,  on  President's  council, 
6. 

Frelinghuysen,  Frederick  T.,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  242. 

French  ministry,  Revolutionary  offi- 
cers of  state  like,  2. 

Gage,  Lyman  J.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  263;  his  principles,  263; 
retires,  269. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  41 ;  disliked  by  Federal- 
ists, 41 ;  proposals  for  cabinet 
meetings,  43;  position  of,  44,  45; 
transfer  to  State  Dartment  op- 
posed, 51 ;  minister  to  Russia,  54. 

Galphin  Claim,  Taylor's  cabinet  and, 

143. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  and  party  fac- 
tions, 231,  232;  demands  on  him, 


232;  his  plan  for  appointments, 
232;  his  appointments,  233,  234, 
235;  and  his  Secretaries,  235. 

Garfield,  James  Rudolph,  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  274. 

Garland,  Augustus  H.,  Attorney- 
General,  247. 

Gary,  James  A.,  Postmaster-General, 
264;  resigns,  264. 

Genet,  mission  of  and  cabinet,  14. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  selected  by  Adams 
as  commissioner  to  France  (1707)  ; 
not  approved  by  cabinet,  33;  ap- 
pointed, 33. 

Gilmer,  Thomas  W.,  appointed  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  120;  killed, 
121. 

Gilpin,  Henry  D.,  Attorney-General, 
101. 

Goff,  Nathan,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
227. 

Granger,  Francis,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 107;  resigns,  113. 

Granger,  Gideon,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 41. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  Secretary  of  War  ad 
interim,  197;  cabinet  appointments, 
207,  208,  209,  210;  and  his  cabinet, 
211,  212,  and  the  McGarrahan 
claim,  21 1 ;  and  the  politicians,  213, 
215,  216;  reappoints  his  first  cabi- 
net, 213;  his  mediocre  cabinet,  213; 
cabinet  changes,  214;  scandals,  214, 
215. 

Green,  Duff,  Jackson  and,  85. 

Gresham,  Walter  Q.,  Postmaster- 
General,  242;  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  242;  resigns,  243;  Sec- 
retary of  State,  259;  dies,  260. 

Grundy,  Felix,  Attorney-General, 
101. 

Guthrie,  James,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  154. 


348 


INDEX. 


Hale,  Eugene,  214;  tendered  Post- 
master-Generalship, 214;  declines, 
214. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  advises  follow- 
ing French  practice  with  heads  of 
department,  2 ;  resolution  for  ap- 
pointment of  chief  officers  by 
President  (1787),  6;  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  9;  on  English  and 
American  executive  and  council, 
19;  on  the  head  of  the  Treasury, 
19,  20;  functions  assumed  as  sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  20,  21; 
criticized,  22;  opposes  Jefferson, 
23;  retires  from  Washington's 
cabinet,  25;  on  relation  of  the 
President  with  his  cabinet,  37. 

Hamilton,  Paul,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  52. 

Harlan,  James,  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior, 191;  resigns,  192;  in  Senate, 

193- 

Harmon,  Judson,  Attorney-General, 
260. 

Harrison,  Benj.,  appointments,  253,' 
254;  relations  within  his  cabinet, 
254;  and  Elaine,  254,  255;  cabinet 
changes,  255. 

Harrison,  William  Henry,  his  views 
on  cabinet  appointments,  105;  his 
appointments,  105,  106,  107;  death, 
107. 

Hatton,  Frank,  Postmaster-General, 
242,  243. 

Hay,  John,  Secretary  of  State,  264; 
death,  272. 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B.,  cabinet  draws 
upon  independents,  221 ;  fails  to 
represent  factions,  221 ;  cabinet  ap- 
pointments, 222,  223,  224;  Senate 
and,  224,  225;  changes  in  his  cabi- 
net, 227. 

Henshaw,  David,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  120;  unseated  by  the  Senate, 
120. 


Herbert,  Hilary,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  259. 

Howe,  Timothy  O.,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 242;  retires,  242. 

Hill,  Isaac,  Jackson  and,  85. 

Hitchcock,  Ethan  A.,  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  265;  retires,  273. 

Hitchcock,  Frank  H.,  Postmaster- 
General,  280. 

Holt,  Joseph,  Postmaster-General, 
162 ;  on  Cass*  resignation,  164 ; 
Acting-Secretary  of  War,  166 ;  Sec- 
retary of  War,  167,  168;  declines 
Attorney-Generalship,  187. 

Howard,  John  E.,  proposed  as  Sec- 
retary of  War,  27,  note. 

Hunt,  William  H.,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  235;  retires,  242. 

Impeachment,  articles  of  against 
President  Johnson,  199,  200. 

Ingham,  Samuel  D.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  82. 

Innes,  Colonel,  proposed  for  Attor- 
ney-General, 27,  note. 

Insular  Affairs,  War  Department 
and,  265. 

Interior,  Department  of  established 
(1849),  134;  previous  history  of, 
135;  its  scope,  135;  relations  with 
the  President,  324. 

Irving,  Washington,  declines  Secre- 
taryship of  the  Navy,  100,  101. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  and  J.  Q.  Adams, 
74;  his  cabinet  appointments,  81, 
82,  83;  discontinues  cabinet  meet- 
ings, 86;  quarrels  of  his  adminis- 
tration, 87,  88;  resignations  in  his 
cabinet,  88;  attitude  towards  the 
cabinet,  88,  89;  second  cabinet,  89; 
new  cabinet  appointments  by,  94; 
character  of  his  last  cabinet,  94; 
discusses  Folk's  cabinet  appoint- 
ments, 128. 


INDEX. 


349 


James,  Thomas  L.,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 234;  retires,  242. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  Secretary  of 
State,  9;  opposes  Hamilton,  23; 
position  in  Washington's  cabinet, 
24 ;  proposed  successors  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  State,  24,  note ;  first  cabi- 
net appointments,  41 ;  harmony  in 
his  cabinet,  43;  takes  cabinet's  ad- 
vice, 46;  discusses  cabinet  rela- 
tions, 52,  53. 

Jewell,  Marshall,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 214. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  retains  Lincoln's 
cabinet,  191 ;  reconstruction  of  his 
cabinet,  192;  Seward's  views  of, 
192,  193;  new  appointments,  193; 
Senate  and,  198;  impeachment  of, 
199,  200. 

Johnson,  Cave,  Postmaster-General, 
130. 

Johnson.  Reverdy,  Attorney-General, 
140. 

Jones,  William,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  54;  resigns,  58. 

Justice,  Department  of,  established, 
216. 

Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  Pierce's  cabi- 
net and,  156,  157- 

Kendall,  Amos,  influences  Jackson, 
85;  Postmaster-General,  94;  re- 
signs, 101. 

Key,  David  M.,  Postmaster-General, 
223;  retires,  227. 

King,  Horatio,  Postmaster-General, 
168. 

Kirkwood,  Samuel  J.,  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  235;  retires,  242. 

"  Kitchen  Cabinet,"  Jackson's,  84,  85, 
86;  Tyler's,  115. 

Knox,  Henry,  Secretary  of  War,  9; 
retires  from  Washington's  cabinet, 
25- 


Knox,  Philander  C,  succeeds  Griggs 
as  Attorney-General,  265;  enters 
Senate,  270;  Secretary  of  State, 
279;  legality  of  his  appointment 
questioned,  279. 

Lamar,  Lucius  Q.  C,  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  247;  Associate  Judge, 
248. 

Lamont,  Daniel  S.,  Secretary  of 
War,  259. 

Lawrence,  Abbott,  proposed  for  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  140. 

Lee,  Charles,  Attorney-General,  26; 
Circuit- Judge,  36;  on  double 
character  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  322. 

Legare,  Hugh,  S.,  Attorney-General, 
118;  Secretary  of  State  ad  interim, 
120. 

Lewis,  W.  B.,  Jackson  and,  85. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  formation  of  his 
cabinet,  171,  172;  cabinet  appoint- 
ments, 172,  173,  174;  and  the  South, 
173;  appointments  confirmed,  175; 
relations  in  his  cabinet,  175;  on 
Seward's  proposals,  176;  his  inde- 
pendence, 186;  rebukes  cabinet, 
186;  and  slave  indemnity,  186,  187; 
reconstruction  of  his  cabinet,  187, 
188. 

Lincoln,  Levi,  Attorney-General,  41; 
Secretary  of  State  ad  interim,  42. 

Lincoln,  Robert  T.,  Secretary  of 
War,  233. 

Loeb  Letter,  the,  on  cabinet  and 
newspapers,  272,  273. 

Long,  John  D.,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  263;  retires,  269. 

Louisiana  Purchase,  Jefferson's  cabi- 
net and,  46,  326,  327. 

McClelland,  Robert,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  154. 


350 


INDEX. 


McCrary,  George  W.,  Secretary  of 
War,  224;  discussed,  223,  224;  Cir- 
cuit-Judge, 227. 

McCulloch,  Hugh,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  188,  243. 

McGarrahan  Claim,  211;  Grant  and, 
211,  212. 

McHenry,  James,  Secretary  of  War, 
26. 

McKenna,  Joseph,  Attorney-General, 
264;  Justice  of  Supreme  Court, 
264. 

McKinley,  William,  cabinet  appoint- 
ments, 263,  264;  cabinet  changes, 
264;  retains  old  cabinet  in  second 
administration,  265 ;  assassination 
of  and  his  cabinet,  265. 

McLean,  John,  Postmaster-General, 
74;  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 

83. 

McLean,  John,  refuses  Secretaryship 
of  War,  118. 

MacVeagh,  Franklin,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  279. 

MacVeagh,  Wayne,  Attorney- Gen- 
eral, 233 ;  position,  233 ;  retires,  242. 

Madison,  James,  prepares  veto  mes- 
sage for  Washington  (1791),  n; 
Secretary  of  State,  41;  first  cabi- 
net, 51,  52. 

Manning,  Daniel,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  247;  retires,  248. 

Marcy,  William  L.,  Secretary  of 
War,  129;  Secretary  of  State,  154, 
155;  Buchanan's  opinion  of,  155. 

Marine,  secretaryship  of  created,  2; 
in  President's  Council,  4. 

Marshall,  John,  proposed  Attorney- 
General,  27,  note;  named  by 
Adams  commissioner  to  France, 
33;  Secretary  of  State,  36. 

Mason,  George,  motion  for  Execu- 
tive Council  (1787),  5;  attitude  to- 
wards Council,  7. 


Mason,  John  Y.,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  121 ;  Attorney-General,  130; 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  again,  134. 

Maynard,  Horace,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 227. 

Meredith,  William  W.,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  140. 

Metcalf,  Victor  H.,  Secretary  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  270;  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  273 ;  retires,  274. 

Meyer,  George  von  L.,  Postmaster- 
General,  273;  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  280. 

Miller,  William  H.  H.,  Attorney- 
General,  254. 

Monroe,  James,  Secretary  of  State, 
53;  Acting-Secretary  of  War,  54; 
quarrels  with  Armstrong,  56,  57; 
Secretary  of  War,  57;  and  Secre- 
tary of  State  also,  58;  his  cabinet, 
66,  67;  and  J.  Q.  Adams,  69,  70; 
on  cabinet  tenure,  77. 

Moody,  William  H.,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  269;  Attorney-General,  270; 
Associate-Justice,  273. 

Morgan,  E.  D.,  refuses  Secretary- 
ship of  the  Treasury,  188. 

Morgan,  Edwin  D.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  241 ;  confirmed  but  de- 
clines, 241. 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  his  resolution 
for  Council  of  State  (1787),  4J 
on  President  and  Council,  6. 

Morton,  Julius  Sterling,  Secretary 
of  Agriculture,  259. 

Morton,  Levi,  and  Secretaryship  of 
the  Treasury,  233;  Minister  to 
France,  233. 

Morton,  Paul,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
270;  retires,  271. 

Murray,  William  Vans,  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  to  France,  34. 


INDEX. 


Nagle,  Charles,  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor,  280. 

Nation,  the,  on  the  cabinet,  272. 

Navy,  department  established,  34. 

Navy  Department,  organization  of, 
67,  68. 

Newberry,  Truman  H.,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  275. 

New  York,  and  Garfield's  appoint- 
ments, 233,  234;  Garfield  and  Col- 
lectorship  of,  236,  237;  and  Har- 
rison's cabinet,  253. 

Noble,  John  W.,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  253. 

Olney,  Richard,  Attorney-General, 
259;  Secretary  of  State,  260. 

Paulding,  James  K.,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  101. 

Payne,  Henry  C,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 269;  retires,  271. 

Pendleton,  Edmund,  considered  for 
Secretary  of  State,  26. 

Pendleton,  George  H.,  his  resolution 
to  permit  heads  of  departments  to 
speak  in  Congress,  302,  303. 

Pennsylvania,  associated  with  the 
Treasury  portfolio,  74,  288. 

Pickering,  Timothy,  Secretary  of 
War,  25;  his  officers,  25;  against 
appointment  of  Colonel  Smith  by 
Adams,  35;  dismissed  by  Adams, 
36. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  cabinet  appoint- 
ments, 153,  154,  155;  Southern 
views  of,  155,  156,  relations,  156, 
157;  relations  with  cabinet,  157; 
character,  157. 

Pierrepont,  Edwards,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 214;  minister  to  England, 
215- 

Pinckney,  Charles,  on  President's 
council  of  advice  (1787),  4. 


Pinckney,  General  Charles  Cotes- 
worth,  offered  Secretaryship  of 
War,  25,  note;  named  by  Adams 
Commissioner  to  France,  33. 

Pinckney,  William,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, succeeding  Rodney,  53. 

Platt,  Thomas  C.,  recommended  as 
Postmaster-General,  221 ;  and 
Harrison's  cabinet,  253. 

Poinsett,  Joel  R.,  Secretary  of  War, 
99. 

Polk,  James  K.,  declines  Secretary- 
ship of  the  Navy,  121 ;  appoint- 
ments advised  by  Jackson,  128; 
cabinet  appointments,  129,  130; 
against  Presidential  aspirants  in 
his  cabinet,  130,  131 ;  and  Buchan- 
an, 131,  132;  method  of  consulting 
cabinet,  132;  consults  Senate  on 
Oregon  Question,  132;  originates 
legislation,  133. 

Porter,  James  M.,  Secretary  of  War, 
120;  unseated  by  the  Senate,  120. 

Porter,  Peter  B.,  Secretary  of  War, 
76. 

Postmaster-General,  patronage  im- 
portant, 41 ;  enters  cabinet,  83 ; 
and  the  President,  92,  93,  94; 
ranks  with  the  Secretaries,  149; 
as  party  manager,  299. 

Post  Office,  power  of  the  President 
over,  92,  93,  94. 

President,  his  college  of  advisors 
created  from  cabinet,  9;  consulta- 
tions within  and  without  the  cabi- 
net, 9,  10;  board  of  advisors  in 
International  Law,  etc.,  proposed 
for,  15;  relation  with  cabinet  dis- 
cussed, 37;  originates  legislation, 
133;  and  cabinet  under  Lincoln, 
186. 

President,  council  of  discussed  in 
Constitutional  Convention  (1787), 
4;  resolution  for,  4,  5;  rejected,  5; 


352 


INDEX. 


new  resolution  for  adopted,  5; 
Mason's  resolution,  6,  7. 

Presidential  Succession,  Johnson's 
recommendations,  202,  203;  pro- 
vided for,  203. 

Preston,  William  B.,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  140. 

Preston,  W.  C,  proposed  for  Secre- 
taryship of  the  Navy,  107. 

"  Princeton,"  explosion  on  kills  cabi- 
net members,  121. 

Privy  council,  in  Constitutional  Con- 
vention (1787),  3. 

Proctor,  Redfield,  Secretary  of  War, 
253 ;  resigns,  255. 

Quincy,  Josiah,  on  cabinet  govern- 
ment under  Jefferson  and  Madison, 
59,  60. 

Ramsay,  Alexander,  Secretary  of 
War,  227. 

Randall,  Alexander  W.,  Postmaster- 
General,  193. 

Randolph,  Edmund,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 9;  position  of  in  cabinet 
strengthened  by  Genet  mission,  14; 
succeeds  Jefferson  as  Secretary  of 
State,  24 ;  political  opinions,  25 ; 
and  Fauchet,  25;  resigns,  26. 

Rawlins,  John  A.,  Secretary  of  War, 
208;  death,  210. 

Revolution,  American,  executive 
government  in,  2. 

Richardson,  William  A.,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  213;  ousted,  213. 

Robeson,  George,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  210. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  Assistant  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  263;  retains 
McKinley's  cabinet,  269;  changes 
in  his  cabinet,  269,  270,  271;  and 
Hitchcock  and  Wilson,  273. 


Root,  Elihu,  Secretary  of  War,  265; 
and  Insular  Affairs,  265;  tempor- 
arily retires,  270;  Secretary  of 
State,  272;  retires,  274. 

Rush,  Richard,  Attorney-General, 
55;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  74. 

Rusk,  Jeremiah,  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, 254. 

Rutledge,  on  President  and  Council, 
6. 

Sanborn  contracts,  213 ;  scandal  with, 
213,  214. 

San  Domingo,  annexation  of,  211; 
treaty  before  Grant's  cabinet,  211; 
327. 

Schofield,  John  M.,  Secretary  of 
War,  201;  retained  by  Grant,  208. 

Schurz,  Carl,  proposals  for  Hayes* 
cabinet,  222;  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior, 222;  and  Civil  Service  Re- 
form, 226,  227. 

Senate,  advice  of  President  by,  7; 
evolution  of  privy  council  from 
precluded,  7;  consulted  by  Polk 
on  Oregon  Question,  132;  and 
Lincoln's  cabinet,  180,  181 ;  and 
Johnson,  198;  and  Hayes'  appoint- 
ments, 224,  225;  forced  by  public 
opinion,  225;  and  the  confirmation 
of  the  cabinet,  319;  President  of 
in  President's  Council,  4;  quarrel 
with  Tyler,  120. 

Seward,  William  H.,  and  Taylor, 
141,  142;  his  influence,  141,  142; 
and  Fillmore,  147;  Secretary  of 
State,  171,  172;  and  Lincoln,  175, 
176;  his  proposals  to  Lincoln,  176; 
assumes  powers,  176,  177;  resigns, 
181;  resumes  his  place,  182;  in 
Johnson's  cabinet,  192. 

Shaw,  Leslie  M.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  269;  retires,  273. 


INDEX. 


353 


Shelby,  Isaac,  Secretary  of  War,  66; 
declines,  66. 

Sherman,  on  council  of  advice 
(1787),  3- 

Sherman,  John,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  222,  225;  and  Hayes, 
226;  Secretary  of  State,  263;  re- 
tires, 264. 

Sherman,  W.  T.,  on  removal  of 
Stanton,  198;  Secretary  of  War, 
210,  note. 

Smith,  Caleb  B.,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  174;  resigns,  187. 

Smith,  Charles  Emory,  Postmaster- 
General,  264;  resigns,  269. 

Smith,  Hoke,  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior, 259. 

Smith,  Robert,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  42;  Secretary  of  State,  52; 
resigns,  52;  Minister  to  Russia,  52. 

Smith,  Samuel,  opposes  transfer  of 
Gallatin  to  State  Department,  51. 

Solicitors,  or  assistant  attorneys- 
general  in  Department  of  Justice, 
15- 

Solicitor-General,  provided  for,  217; 
duties,  217. 

South,  the,  demands  representation 
in  the  cabinet  of  Van  Buren,  99; 
members  from  in  Taylor's  cabinet, 
141 ;  and  Lincoln's  cabinet,  173 ; 
has  a  member  of  Hayes'  cabinet, 
223;  and  Garfield's  cabinet,  235; 
in  Cleveland's  cabinet,  247;  must 
be  represented  in  the  cabinet,  264. 

Southern  Democrats,  in  Tyler's  cabi- 
net, 121. 

Speaker,  the,  in  President's  Council, 
4- 

Speed,  James,  Attorney-General, 
187;  resigns,  192. 

Stanbery,  Henry,  Attorney-General, 
193. 


Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 165;  supersedes  Cameron, 
177;  and  Lincoln,  178,  179,  185; 
removal  of,  192;  and  Johnson,  193, 
194,  197;  suspended  by  Johnson, 
197;  removed,  198;  resigns,  201. 

State,  Assistant-Secretary  of,  office 
created,  149. 

State,   department  of  established,  8. 

State,  Secretary  of  should  have  been 
consulted  on  certain  Indian  des- 
patches (1792),  12;  position  under 
Washington,  24 ;  proposals  for  suc- 
cessor to  Randolph,  26,  note; 
priority,  45;  does  not  issue  report, 
307;  position  of  under  the  Presi- 
dent, 314,  315,  316. 

Stewart,  Alexander  T.,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  208;  disability,  208. 

Stimson,  Henry  L.,  Secretary  of 
War,  281. 

Stoddert,  Benjamin,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  34- 

Straus,  Oscar  S.,  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor,  273. 

Supreme  Court,  justices  of  consulted 
by  President  on  International  Law, 
14,  15- 

Taft,  Alphonso,  Secretary  of  War, 
215;  Attorney-General,  215. 

Taft,  William  H.,  Secretary  of  War, 
270;  retires,  274;  cabinet  appoint- 
ments, 279. 

Tallmadge,  N.  P.,  offered  seat  in 
Harrison's  cabinet,  107. 

Taney,  Roger  B.,  nomination  for 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  reject- 
ed, 94. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  intentions,  139;  and 
Crittenden,  139,  140;  appointments, 
140;  advised  in  cabinet  appoint- 
ments, 140;  intended  appointments 
before  death,  143. 


354 


INDEX. 


Tazewell,  Littleton  W.,  offered  Sec- 
retaryship of  State,  82. 

Teller,  Henry  M.,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  242. 

Tenure  of  Office  Act,  members  of 
cabinet  and,  194,  195,  196,  197; 
President  Johnson  and,  200,  201 ; 
amended,  203. 

Thomas,  Philip  R,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  164;  resigns,  167. 

Thompson,  Richard  W.,  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  223;  resigns,  227. 

Tod,  David,  declines  Secretaryship 
of  the  Treasury,  185. 

Tompkins,  Daniel  D.,  declines  to  be 
Secretary  of  State,  57,  58. 

Thompson,  Jacob,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  162,  163;  resigns,  167. 

Toucey,  Isaac,  Attorney-General, 
134;  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  162. 

Tracy,  Benj.  F.,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  253. 

Treasury,  department  of  established 
(1789),  8. 

Treasury,  Secretary  of  to  consider 
certain  Indian  despatches  (1792), 
12;  functions  assumed  under 
Hamilton,  20,  21;  criticized,  22; 
and  Congress,  44;  relation  to  the 
President  and  Congress,  89,  90,  92; 
Whig  caucus  would  have  him  ap- 
pointed by  Congress,  113;  amend- 
ment to  Constitution  proposed, 
113;  candidates  for  (1865),  188; 
precedence- of,  288;  position  of  in 
the  cabinet,  316. 

Trescott,  William  F.,  Secretary  of 
State,  165. 

Tyler,  John,  retains  Harrison's  cabi- 
net, in;  his  cabinet  considers  his 
financial  measures,  112,  113;  four 
members  of  his  cabinet  resign,  113; 
financial  measures  and  relations 
with  Congress,  in,  112,  113;  Con- 


gress and,  113;  Ewing's  views  of, 
114;  his  "Kitchen"  cabinet,  115; 
relations  with  his  cabinet,  114,  115; 
conduct  discussed,  117;  alliances, 
117;  new  appointments,  116,  118, 
119;  quarrel  with  the  Senate,  120; 
cabinet  appointments,  121. 
Tyner,  James  M.,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 216;  First  Assistant-Post- 
master-General,  223. 

Upshur,  Abel  P.,  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  118;  Secretary  of  State,  120; 
killed,  121. 

Usher,  John  P.,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  187;  retirement,  188,  191. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  Secretary  of 
State,  82;  resigns,  88;  his  advisors 
outside  the  cabinet,  100;  cabinet 
appointments,  100,  101 ;  his  cabinet 
characterized,  101,  102. 

Vice-President,  meets  with  cabinet 
(1791),  12;  not  in  the  cabinet,  320. 

Vilas,  William  F.,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 247;  Secretary  of  the  Inter- 
ior, 248. 

Virginia,  executive  council  influences 
Washington's  cabinet,  13. 

Wade,  B.  F.,  "contrives"  a  cabinet 
as  possible  successor  to  Johnson, 
202. 

Walker,  Robert  J.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  129. 

Wanamaker,  John,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 254. 

War,  Department  of,  established 
(1789),  8;  condition  of  (1860- 
1861),  177;  and  the  war  with 
Spain,  264,  265 ;  controversies  over, 
265 ;  and  Insular  affairs,  265. 

War,  secretaryship  of  created 
(1781),  2;  in  President's  Council, 


INDEX. 


355 


4 ;  Secretary  of  apparently  not  con- 
sulted on  Bank  Act  (1791),  n; 
secretaries  proposed,  27;  military 
men  made  secretary  of  war,  298. 

Washburne,  Elihu  B.,  Secretary  of 
State,  209. 

Washington,  G.,  visits  Senate  for  ad- 
vice, 7;  relations  with  members  of 
cabinet,  13;  does  not  use  word, 
"cabinet,"  15;  against  different 
parties  in  the  cabinet,  26;  and  the 
appointment  of  the  major-generals 
by  Adams,  34. 

"Watch-dog  of  the  Treasury,"  209. 

Webster,  Daniel,  Secretary  of  State, 
105,  106;  remains  in  Tyler's  cabi- 
net, 114,  115,  116;  resigns,  119; 
position,  119,  120;  resigns  from 
Fillmore's  cabinet,  148. 

Weed,  Thurlow,  influence  in  politics 
of,  85. 

Welles,  Gideon,  on  formation  of 
Lincoln's  cabinet,  171;  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  173. 

Whigs,  improve  the  cabinet,  149. 

Whitney,  William  C,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  247. 

Wickersham,  George  W.,  Attorney- 
General,  280. 


Wickliffe,  Charles  A.,  Postmaster- 
General,  118. 

Wilkins,  William,  appointed  Secre- 
tary of  War,  120. 

Williams,  George  EL,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, 213. 

Wilson,  on  single  magistrate,  3,  4. 

Wilson,  James,  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture, 264;  280. 

Wilson,  William  L.,  Postmaster- 
General,  260. 

Windom,  William,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  234,  resigns,  241 ;  Secre- 
tary of  Treasury  under  Harrison, 
253;  dies,  255. 

Wirt,  William,  Attorney,  General, 
67. 

Wolcott,  Oliver,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  25;  resigns,  36. 

Woodbury,  Levi,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  94 ;  his  "  rotation  "  prin- 
ciple, 100;  and  offers  to  resign,  100. 

Wright,  Luke  E.,  Secretary  of  War, 
274. 

Wright,  Silas,  declines  Secretaryship 
of  the  Treasury,  128. 

Wynne,  Robert  J.,  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, 271. 


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